Posted on 12/18/2012 8:39:57 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Quick Take
* Microsoft, Windows CFO says, Windows 8 has sold 40 million licenses in the first month of its launch.
* This beats Windows 7 which sold 60 million licenses in the first two months.
* The news should ease some worries about Windows 8′s slow sales figures.
* Notebook and desktop sales was around 353 million in 2011, expected to grow to 450 million by 2019.
* Bing is default search engine on Windows 8 and can gain market share, which stood at 4% globally in 2011
The newly appointed Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows division, Tami Reller, announced that the company has sold approximately 40 million Windows 8 licenses during its first month of launch. Reller believes that Windows 8 is keeping pace to match sales of Windows 7, which sold approximately 670 million licenses worldwide. [1]
Overall, we think these figures should put to rest some concerns from investors about the popularity of the Windows 8 operating system. We think that the company has taken a step in the right direction with the Windows 8 OS. We also expect sales of Windows 8 to benefit the Microsoft ecosystem across platforms and help boost Microsoft services such as Bing.
User Interface Success
One key information that came out of Tami Reller’s statements was the fact that the new Metro UI (user interface) on Windows 8 has been relatively successful. Reller said, Microsoft has logged 1.5 billion actions on the new user interface, showing that consumers have successfully made the transition from the traditional Microsoft interface to the new tile-based Windows 8 UI.
Another plus point is that customers are personalizing their start screen by adding applications to the platform. For example, an average customer added 19 tiles to their start screen within the first three weeks of using their Windows 8 PC. If we assume that all 40 million licenses were in use and all the tile additions were done via the Windows store, it meas that 760 million applications have been downloaded from the Windows store during this time period. We think these figures should subside some of the worries that Microsoft investors have about the popularity of Windows 8.
Convertible PC Appeal to Consumers
In our opinion, the competitive advantage that Windows 8 has is its touch screen compatibility. This feature has prompted original equipment manufacturer’s such as Acer and Lenovo to release touch screen laptops, a feature that isn’t yet matched by Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Macbooks.
We think that the touch screen feature is extremely appealing to consumers torn between the decision to buy a laptop or a tablet. With a convertible laptop to tablet, users can take advantage of both features carrying around a portable machine with both productivity and consumption in mind. We think that this line of products can result in drop in tablet sales over the longer term if laptops continue to get thinner and faster. This could spell trouble for tablet manufacturers as users could opt to buy a small laptop which converts to a tablet versus buying a standalone tablet. If this materializes, we could see PC sales increase faster than our forecasts, consequently providing an upside to our current price estimate for Microsoft.
Benefit To Bing
Another major beneficiary of Windows 8′s success is likely to be Microsoft’s search engine, Bing. At present, the search engine has struggled to capture substantial market share, which stood at around 4% globally in 2011.
While we don’t yet have data on market share for searches done on Windows 8, we estimate that Bing has higher market share on Windows 8 when compared to its market share on PCs overall. This is the case because Bing is the default search engine on the OS, which has an effect on the choice of search engine used by consumers, especially in tablet mode. Bing has done a good job with its Windows 8 app, creating a faster search experience with a new easy to use tile interface, both of which improve its usability among consumers. We will have to wait for Microsoft to release specific numbers for Bing, but we believe an increase in market share is likely.
Too bad Windows 8 phone is such a bomb.
[snip]
* Notebook and desktop sales was around 353 million in 2011,
So almost 30 million is from the natural sales of PCs for a month.
Also, how many of those licenses were from OEMs paying for licenses up front for future computer sales? If you know you are going to sell a million computers, will Microsoft give a good enough discount if you buy those up front in order to boost their first month numbers?
RE: Too bad Windows 8 phone is such a bomb.
I wouldn’t say that just yet in light of how people are reviewing the Windows 8 based Lumia 920 from Nokia.
See here:
http://www.newsbroadcast.co.uk/35058/nokia-lumia-920-tops-poll-of-the-best-new-smartphones
TITLE: Nokia Lumia 920 Tops Poll Of The Best New Smartphones
and here:
TITLE: Consumer Reports: Windows Phone 8 devices are winners
and here:
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/410958/20121204/report-lumia-920-sells-briskly-nokia-struggles.htm
TITLE: Nokia Lumia 920 Sells Briskly but Struggles to Meet Solid Demands
My wife just got a new pc with Windows 8 on it. Can’t find basic functions. They should have kept a xp interface option.
Sounds like propaganda. Right up there with news releases about high volume Chevy Volt sales.
Your wife has to get use to the new user interface. The old interface will be gone in a few years ( assuming people do migrate to Windows 8 en masse ).
And according to Microsoft, Windows XP support will stop by 2014.
RE: Sounds like propaganda. Right up there with news releases about high volume Chevy Volt sales.
ONE BIG DIFFERENCE -— The Volt uses tax payer money and government support.
Windows 8 lives or dies by the market.
No, she doesn't.
I find it odd that one of the main arguments against Linux is the different interface(s) and how it's not like Windows. Now your saying the exact same thing.
Install Linux. It's easier to use than Windows 8, it's Free, and you can set it up so your computer works the way you do--rather than have to change the way you work to suit your computer.
your = you’re
Meanwhile, in an unmarked large 2,000 seat office building in Madison, Wisconsin, a crew of IT folks are installing the organization’s Windows 7 Pro 64 approved image over the Win8 preinstalled on all of the Lenovo desktops and laptops coming through.
Multiply by about a few thousand, and you can see where this is going.
Nope! You couldn’t be more wrong here. The interface on 8 is just worthless for anyone who has to get work done. 7 does everything just right. Why anyone would want to deal with a touchscreen makes no sense to me. Touchscreens are slow.
To me, this is the problem MicroSoft has. People dig the company for not being innovating, but when they launch something really cool, they get criticized because it doesn't work like the old system.
Personally, I think MS crossed that line with Win 8.
That’s what I did, unfortunately the new laptop I just bought isn’t working.
It won’t work unless the model with the XP/7 image was created on the same model. For a new laptop that doesn’t include the desired OS, you may have to obtain a fresh license (or use a “bare metal” backup program like Acronis).
If you want to use XP, but have a Win 8 computer, there might be a UEFI issue. That would be the subject of a whole other, and painful thread.
Hold the Windows key and press ‘D’. Presto.
The transition is not difficult!
I have IOS 6 and iPhone4. I also have Nokia Lumia 920 Windows 8. Biggest difference - NO ITUNES!!!.
There is no comparison between those phones. I LOVE the Nokia.
I love that it is just another disk drive to Windows 7 or 8 or Vista or XP.
I love that all my systems now sync.
I jumped on a new Windows 8 computer with no problem. I found the "traditional start" in a snap. I have experience with live tiles on my phone. The PC I was on was at someone's home. They had skydrive all set-up with Outlook.com right into live tiles. The had the Xbox set-up. The Xbox was updated to the new look and had XBox music.
My opinion is microsoft should fire its advertiser. The snappy commercials tell you nothing. The power of 8 is going to be full integration with Xbox, phone, PC, home network and online tools. I could careless about red keyboards.
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