Windows RT, Microsoft answer to a consumer tablet platform is often criticized for its lack of support for legacy Windows applications. Unless consumer interest takes a positive turn, one analyst believes the operating system is destined for demise.
Richard Windsor, an independent technology analyst has filed in a prediction that Windows RT as a whole is going nowhere big, and ARM could soon end up with a zero percent share of the Windows tablet pie.
In a statement the analyst said:
“Consequently, it looks to me that it will be some considerable time before ARM can really have a go at this market and I can see the medium term forecasts for ARM having being cut. ARM is a high flyer for good reason but if estimates are heading south then the multiple is likely to unravel as well as the numbers.”
Windsor is of the view that Samsung’s decision to abandon the platform in Europe, citing slow demand as the main reason, will leave the platform hanging high and dry:
“I still prefer ARM’s customers as the cheaper and more beneficial way to invest in the ARM story but at the moment that story itself is holding its breath.”
Samsung revealed last week that it would stop selling Windows RT tablets in Germany and some other important European countries. This comes months after the company’s decision not to launch Windows RT devices in the United States.
Things like these, the analyst believes, could really hurt Windows RT, and the operating system stands to lose most of its adaptors, as they gravitate towards the pro version of Microsoft Surface tablet.
Microsoft is yet to announce any sales numbers for Surface RT, but the company is keen to bring its first ever tablet in history to many more markets in the months to follow. Unless more hardware vendors join in, Redmond could soon find itself fighting a lone battle for the RT platform.
