Even though Microsoft maintains that it has sold a healthy number of Windows 8 licenses since launch, the overall adaption rate has left a lot of industry analysts underwhelmed.
Hardware companies and even key Microsoft partners have, over the past few months, weighed in on the performance of Redmond’s newest operating system. The latest to offer views on the sales of the OS is Staples. The company is selling both Windows 8 and Surface tablets.
Demos Parneros, the president of the US division of Staples recently confirmed that the new platform has left a fair bit to be desired, and is, shall we say, disappointing up till now.
Talking to The Var Guy he noted:
“There was a lot of anticipation and build for Windows 8, as you mentioned, and that really slowed sales down [in Q4], that in combination with people moving to tablets. And then the Windows 8 release, honestly, was below what we expected.”
Talking about Surface RT tablet he said:
“One of the products was introduced. The pro model was introduced just recently to reasonably good reviews and decent sales but definitely below expectations. I would also say that touch product, which really makes Windows 8 a better experience, was scarce in the quarter.”
The Staples executive, nevertheless, said that the company would stick to Windows 8 and expects that the new operating system to perform a lot better in the near future:
“We believe in Windows 8, we’re excited about it. I like the recent things that we’ve seen. But it’s got to build a little faster.”
Build faster, indeed. Microsoft is quite surely keeping tabs on things as latest reports suggest that the company is planning to cut prices of OEM licenses of Windows 8, in a bid to not just increase the amount of touch enabled devices, but bring them to market at more affordable rates.
