This is not the first time the pricing factor of Windows 8 has been brought up, but the (somewhat) high prices of these devices is once again said to be one of the main reasons for the lukewarm uptake of Microsoft’s new operating system.
Windows 8 currently lays claim to a market share that hovers around the 4 percent mark worldwide.
And the elevated prices of a lot of Windows 8 devices is what McAdams Right Regan analyst Sid Parakh believes is the major factor that has kept users away from the latest OS. Talking to Barron’s he said:
“In particular, consumer PC uptake remains subdued and Microsoft has been unable to spur demand for its Surface devices and other Windows 8-based tablet offerings from OEMs. We view high price points for touch enabled Windows 8 devices as a gating factor for customer adoption.
We estimate core licensing revenue for Windows 8 was down in line with low-to-mid double-digit declines highlighted by IDC and Gartner […] Two thirds of all enterprise customers have now upgraded to Windows 7. Sales of other enterprise products appear to be healthy, but came in slightly below expectations.”
All this is despite Microsoft’s best efforts to bring cheaper units to the store shelves. The technology titan, at least recently, can be seen focusing on the pricing of Windows 8 devices — going as far as to offer some enticing price cuts and discounts to hardware makers.
While this has in many ways reduced the prices on some of these devices, a fair amount of work still remains to be done to lift up sales, not just from Microsoft, but hardware vendors too.
Fact is that the lack of touchscreen (and high prices of touch-enabled panels, to begin with) has meant that only a few touch-enabled models have made their way to the market.
This, however, is set to change later this year, as new reports are suggesting that several new touchscreen computers, laptops and tablets are expected to hit the market just in time for the busy Back-To-School and Holiday shopping seasons.
All Comments
These Analysts are absolutely brilliant. I don’t think we the buying public need an analyst to make this statement.
Ya, this article is very true. Most new PCs and Macs for that matter are becoming more high end so price will go up. I think most people feel Windows 7 is still a great OS and don’t feel the need to upgrade to Windows 8 or a PC with windows 8 and it just seems so unconventional from what we are used to.