Windows 8 is depressing PC sales in record numbers

PC sales are plummeting because consumers are confused and unhappy with Windows 8, and there's no end in sight. So concludes an IDC report, which says the sinking sales are the worst it's ever seen.
O'Donnell adds that he doesn't expect Microsoft to admit its mistakes and make significant changes, telling the Seattle Times:
"I think this is the pride before the fall – because they are unwilling to make those changes, because it would show them as having given up or lost on their radical new vision."​
Windows 8 is depressing PC sales in record numbers, warns IDC | Computerworld Blogs

Do you think M$ will get its head out of the sand any time soon?
 
I bet the OEMs are not happy with M$.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7/8 Mint
    System Manufacturer/Model
    lenovo W530
    CPU
    intell i7
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16gb
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    512 gb ssd
    Other Info
    Around 13 million employes
Right. "Only" 76.3 million units shipped worldwide in the first quarter, and that doesn't include convertibles.

To give you a frame of reference, their best guess at iPad Mini sales for this year will be 55 million total. Original iPad sales have cratered at least 50% since the introduction of the iPad Mini.

But apparently, its the PC thats 'dead'.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 on the desktop, Windows 8 Surface Pro mobile
Just another the "PC" is dead because of Windows 8. . .really. Guess no one is using Win 7, Vista, XP. . . etc., so the PC will die out by what at least the end of June, or maybe tomorrow.

Please enough. . .it just isn't going to happen.

Oh, I know what is happening it is the "YEAR OF LINUX" how silly of me. . .long live the PC under the rule of Linux. . .:roflmao:
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8, (VM win7, XP, Vista)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion p1423w
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3330 Ivy Bridge
    Motherboard
    Foxconn - 2ADA Ivy Brige
    Memory
    16 GB 1066MHz DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
    Sound Card
    HD Realteck (Onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Mitsubishi LED TV/Montior HD, Dell 23 HD, Hanspree 25" HD
    Screen Resolution
    Mit. 1980-1080, Dell 2048-115, Hanspree 1920-10802
    Hard Drives
    1 SanDisk 240Gig SSD, 2 Samsung 512Gig SSDs
    Case
    Tower
    Cooling
    Original (Fans)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Keyboard 2000
    Mouse
    Microsoft Optical Mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    1.3 (350 to 1024 if lucky)
    Browser
    Firefox 19.1
    Antivirus
    MSE-Defender
Just another the "PC" is dead because of Windows 8. . .really. Guess no one is using Win 7, Vista, XP. . . etc., so the PC will die out by what at least the end of June, or maybe tomorrow.

Please enough. . .it just isn't going to happen.

Oh, I know what is happening it is the "YEAR OF LINUX" how silly of my. . .long live the PC under the rule of Linux. . .:roflmao:

Nope it is the year of Windows 7.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7/8 Mint
    System Manufacturer/Model
    lenovo W530
    CPU
    intell i7
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16gb
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    512 gb ssd
    Other Info
    Around 13 million employes
Win 7, Win 8 or Linux.

I'm not too fussy either way. I'm comfortable with them all.

But I will not relinquish my desktop, or go to the subscription-software model.

I'll use whichever OS continues to enable me to compute MY way.

Not MS' way, and not the way of the increasingly PC-illiterate 'content consumers'.

Wenda.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 'Ultimate' RTM 64 bit (Pro/WMC).
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer AS8951G 'Desktop Replacement'.
    CPU
    i7-2670QM@2.2/3.1Ghz.
    Motherboard
    Acer
    Memory
    8GB@1366Mhz.
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce GT555M 2GB DDR3
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD w/Dolby 5.1 surround.
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built-in. Non-touch.
    Screen Resolution
    18/4" 1920x1080 full-HD.
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 750GBx2 internal. 1x2TB, 2x640GB, 1x500GB external.
    PSU
    Stock.
    Case
    Laptop.
    Cooling
    Stock.
    Keyboard
    Full 101-key
    Mouse
    USB cordless.
    Browser
    IE11, Firefox, Tor.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, MalwareBytes Pro.
    Other Info
    BD-ROM drive.
They got it all wrong. It's not the Win 8. PC sales is down because home users have more options now... iPads, tablets & smartphones that can suit their basic computing needs (internet surfing and communication). Because if they hate Win 8, there's still 7.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 (64) : Win 7 (64) : Vista (64) : Android JB 4.2 : iOS 6
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer AX Series & HP i-5 2400s
    Screen Resolution
    Main PC - 2x Sony PS3 3D LED Displays + 1x 22" Philips; HTPC - 47" HDTV w/ 17" LCD secondary display
    Hard Drives
    Internal- 1TB on each system; 1x120GB SSD on main PC
    External (network attached)- 1x2TB Seagate backup; 1x1TB ext. storage; 1x500GB,
    Other Info
    http://tinyurl.com/br4uxrk

    http://tinyurl.com/cwj93pj
Seems about right.

That is still a lot of units - but poor in relative terms.

Win 8 has made it worse.

PC buyers do not seem to want it. I am not surprised.

Tablets aren't going well for MS either. Again, not surprising.

They could have used their existing pc users to upgrade to 8 machines. If they were happy, those buyers would help adoption of 8 tablets and phones.

What seems to be happening that 8 is keeping people away from pc buying. The smaller number that have bought are not rushing out to buy 8 phones and tablets.

The danger to MS is buyers will gradually move away - a couple of per cent here, a couple of per cent there - endangers their other cash cows as well - like office.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Looking at Best Buy and they have more PC's with Windows 7 then Windows 8. So its not the OS that is stopping sales its the economy.

bb.PNG

Jim :cool:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 HP 64bit, Windows 8.1 Pro w/Media Center 64BIT
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS - Home Built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
    Motherboard
    ASUS M5A99X EVO
    Memory
    Crucial Balistic DDR-3 1866 CL 9 (8 GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI R6850 Cyclone IGD5 PE
    Sound Card
    On Chip
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS VE258Q 25" LED with DVI-HDMI-DisplayPort
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Two WD Cavier Black 2TB Sata 6gbs
    WD My Book Essential 2TB USB 3.0
    PSU
    Seasonic X650 80 Plus GOLD Modular
    Case
    Corsair 400R
    Cooling
    Antec Kuhler H2O 620, Two 120mm and four 140mm
    Keyboard
    AVS Gear Blue LED Backlight
    Mouse
    Logitech Marble Mouse USB, Logitech Precision Game Pad
    Internet Speed
    15MB
    Antivirus
    NIS, Malwarebytes Premium 2
    Other Info
    APC UPS ES 750, Netgear WNR3500L Gigabit & Wireless N Router with SamKnows Test Program,
    Motorola SB6120 Gigabit Cable Modem.
    Brother HL-2170W Laser Printer,
    Epson V300 Scanner
They may have started to put win7 machines on the shelf at best buy. Probably because 8 is doing so badly.

Not all that easy to see win7 machines elsewhere.

Bit late now. People will have been aware of 8 - rejected it, and not thought about getting a new pc since.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Phone 6, Windows CE 5, Windows Vista x32, Windows 7 x32/x64, Windows 8 x64
Hi there
YAWN YAWN YAWN again.

PC sales (or lack of them) have a lot more to do with all sorts of reasons -- the OS is a minor one.

Let's go over the same ground AGAIN. ==> People use smart phones and tablet devices now HUGELY more for accessing the Internet, email, social media etc -- and with multi-media video on demand type of services they even use these devices for that purpose too -- I often watch UK football on SKY SPORTS via a SKY GO service on my mobile phone when travelling. Before all this type of mobile hardware was available people would have required a laptop / desktop. So a lot of people no longer NEED a PC.

Those that have them already probably have quite decent hardware so there's no reason to buy a new one.
Corporates who are in the midst of or just completing their transition from XP to W7 have already bought new laptops etc for this purpose and won't be buying new gear again for some while.

So the upgrade market currently is TINY. Again for people who are buying for the first time they really consider whether they actually NEED a computer or a tablet.

Finally the economic situation puts people off buying what is normally regarded as a luxury product -- although we are beginning to turn the corner on this one (at last).

You can forget rubbish reports from people like IDC and especially Gartner -- those people are just JUNK.

Windows 8 / Windows 7 / whatever OS really has very little to do directly with PC sales (or lack of them).

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7/8 Mint
    System Manufacturer/Model
    lenovo W530
    CPU
    intell i7
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16gb
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    512 gb ssd
    Other Info
    Around 13 million employes
Research firm: PC sales plunge as Windows 8 flops-The Korea Herald
"All signs so far point to Windows 8 being a flop"

Seems nearly everyone, worldwide, knows (and knew it in advance). Apart from Microsoft.
And it's bitter really, IMO it's a damn good OS hiding under the sad, ugly & restricting metro experiment.

edit: in addition to affecting the PC dept., seems (to me) it's interface and offerings won't be able to compete in the mobile\touchpad world either.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W8.1, W7
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP \ Toshiba \ Lenovo \ Dell E7440
    Browser
    FF
I've said this before but IMO, it's just that more people are going for portability. iPad and tablet sales are soaring. Nothing to do with software but more of hardware options available to consumers.

Win 8 is not a closed platform. There are ways to tweak it and function like Win 7.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8 (64) : Win 7 (64) : Vista (64) : Android JB 4.2 : iOS 6
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer AX Series & HP i-5 2400s
    Screen Resolution
    Main PC - 2x Sony PS3 3D LED Displays + 1x 22" Philips; HTPC - 47" HDTV w/ 17" LCD secondary display
    Hard Drives
    Internal- 1TB on each system; 1x120GB SSD on main PC
    External (network attached)- 1x2TB Seagate backup; 1x1TB ext. storage; 1x500GB,
    Other Info
    http://tinyurl.com/br4uxrk

    http://tinyurl.com/cwj93pj
So, will that be a $399 tablet or $799 Windows 8 PC? The answer to that question is killing the PC upgrade cycle.

Well, in my case, it was an A$129.00 tablet (7" Android) purchased a month ago, and
an A$2700.00 mega-laptop purchased one year ago.

This machine was an upgrade from an older, smaller, less powerful laptop, which is now
over four years old, still running just fine, and is used as my Windows 7 machine.

This new machine is very powerful and highly-specced, with quality components used
throughout and its only 'failings' (well, they're not, really) is that the hard disks are
both spinners (750GB each, though), and the i7 quad-core CPU is 'only' a Sandy Bridge.
It does not have a touch screen or UEFI, neither of which I want anyway, but it runs Win
8 fast and flawlessly with a mouse/keyboard (yes, it has a full 101-key keyboard, essential
AFAIC) or somewhat less flawlessly with the control pad.

As purchased, it was running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, but later it ran the
Windows 8 Enterprise trial till it expired. I then purchased and installed the retail version
of Windows 8 Pro w/WMC.

The point being (yes, there IS a point to all this) that, having upgraded a year ago, I have
no need to do so now. Also, having purchased Windows 8, I have no need to upgrade the
machine to get the new OS. The earliest I'd normally have been considering a hardware
upgrade would be around Jan-Feb 2015, but not if I can't get a mega-laptop that's at least
the (relative) equal to what I have now in terms of physical size, level/quality of features
and power.

Nor would I have normally been planning to 'upgrade' to Windows 8 until then as I've been
perfectly happy with Windows 7 in every way.

The tablet purchase was irrelevant, it had/has no bearing on my PC upgrade plans. It is
purely a recreational device, used for reading e-books, light audio/visual entertainment
and casual 'net browsing when I'm away from my mega-laptop. Nothing more.


Wenda.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 'Ultimate' RTM 64 bit (Pro/WMC).
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer AS8951G 'Desktop Replacement'.
    CPU
    i7-2670QM@2.2/3.1Ghz.
    Motherboard
    Acer
    Memory
    8GB@1366Mhz.
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce GT555M 2GB DDR3
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD w/Dolby 5.1 surround.
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built-in. Non-touch.
    Screen Resolution
    18/4" 1920x1080 full-HD.
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 750GBx2 internal. 1x2TB, 2x640GB, 1x500GB external.
    PSU
    Stock.
    Case
    Laptop.
    Cooling
    Stock.
    Keyboard
    Full 101-key
    Mouse
    USB cordless.
    Browser
    IE11, Firefox, Tor.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, MalwareBytes Pro.
    Other Info
    BD-ROM drive.
So the upgrade market currently is TINY.

If you mean people replacing their existing machines, then IT shouldn't be.

It has up TO now accounted for the vast majority of pc sales.

1.5 bn users replacing their machine every 4-5 yrs comes somewhere around 300m pc sales A year.

It is those people who ARE not rushing out to buy a pc with 8 on it. Not surprising.

They don't seem keen to buy 8 tablets or phones EITHER.

That is the problem FOR MS.

“Unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only didn't provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market,” IDC Vice President Bob O'Donnell said.

Absolutely and obviously correct.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
New PC owners will be just as confused with Windows 8 as they were with Windows 7, XP, ME, 3.1

People don't like change. Period.

Then you have the small niche enthusiasts who want the UI on their smartphones and computers to change drastically every week or they go in to chimp rage about lack of innovation.

Unfortunately, the media hears the latter, vocal minority and reports it as gospel.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Professional
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware m14x
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GT 650m
    Browser
    FireFox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Oh, the IDC report?

The IDC report gone astray, is Microsoft really at fault? - Neowin

This article basically says that the IDC could be off in their assumption of Windows 8.

First off, Microsoft is known to have sold at least 60 million licenses, possibly around 130 million at this point yet PC sales are low. This could definitely mean people are using 8 on older hardware.

Second, the desktop has been a dying breed for years, so a decline those sales aren't new. A decline in laptop sales however, that's not so much news as tablets are becoming the new form factor. Also, people don't buy a new laptop every two years. I personally know several people that have had their laptop since vista, and are running 7 or 8 just fine. No need to upgrade other than for touch or some better piece of hardware. Just because people are moving to tablets isn't a Windows 8 issue, that's the issue Windows 8 is addressing. Then that goes to number three...

Third, OEMs. Seriously right now, the touch PC offerings are meager. The number of actual tablet PCs is meager. The number of RT tablets even are meager and came WAY overpriced at launch. The major chunk of PCs running Windows 8 are basically older stock with a new touchpad driver (or even larger touchpad) with a new Start key and a Windows 8 sticker on the bottom. Basically that is it, just repackaged plastic halfassed junk. Seriously, the release of the Surface tablets kind of look more like a vote of no confidence from Microsoft on OEMs. The top RT tablet? Surface RT. The top tablet to get with Windows 8? Surface Pro. The only OEM that the IDC report seems to ignore is Lenovo however, they have been seeing pretty decent sales with Windows 8, and have stated that their touch PCs are selling in larger numbers than their nontouch PCs. So that's not something to blame Windows 8 on, Lenovo made a few interesting Windows 8 touch PCs and continue to build actually decent hardware. I'm currently recommending a friend to buy a Lenovo laptop just because I can tell it is well built (and an access panel to the WHOLE system, CPU and heatsink, RAM, hard drive and everything under one panel).

If you want to point blame at PC sales, I say point blame to the people and companies that made them. They're not worth the upgrade from a Windows 7 PC to Windows 8, especially since when you load Windows 8 on that older PC, you probably might actually get similar functionality with the touchpad and gesturing if it already supported that with 7. Unless OEMs go and actually think outside the box for once in their bloated existences, this report wouldn't be here. PCs like the Surface tablets are what will propel Windows 8, currently, that's not there by OEMs, only Microsoft. The others seem to think their old android tablets are just fine to put RT on, or basically just use the same old ipad design for a Windows 8 tablet PC.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
Back
Top