14 DAY TRIAL // Even though Microsoft remains tight-lipped on this subject, a lot of analysts and retailers across the world have already confirmed that Windows 8 isn’t selling well, citing the Modern UI and the other interface changes as the main reasons.
But Argus Research‘s Joseph Bonner says it’s not all about these modifications. Tablets and the other devices on the marking running non-Microsoft software may also be at fault for Windows 8’s slow sales debut.
“We think the reason may be a secular move by consumers to non-Windows based mobile devices such as the iPad,” he was quoted as saying by Barron’s.
What’s more, Bonner confirmed that Windows 8 is well behind Windows 7 in terms of early adoption figures.
“While sales of Windows 7 took nine months to ramp up, Windows 8 thus far appears to be well behind the Windows 7 adoption curve,” he added.
Microsoft hasn’t commented on these rumors so far, but it initially said that it managed to sell a total of 40 million Windows 8 copies in just a single month.
While these figures could sound impressive, sources familiar with the matter have previously hinted that Windows 8 actually missed internal sales projections, with Microsoft executives blaming the PC industry for the slow start.
Bonner, however, says that Windows 8 is very likely to “build slowly,” especially because the PC industry it’s currently relying on is also predicted to record a significant recovery this year. According to some other analysts’ reports, the hardware sector may post a major increase in mid-2013.
“While we expected the adoption of Windows 8 to build slowly, without an “Apple-like” blockbuster debut, it currently appears that Windows 8 has had no impact on consumers’ migration to non-Windows tablet devices and has done little to boost PC sales,” the analyst concluded in his report.