Windows 8 tablet sales show real life; Windows RT ...

Despite Microsoft's well-publicized tablet woes, Windows 8 devices are starting to show serious sales growth. Windows RT sales, meanwhile, are about as bad as it gets. So says the most recent IDC report. At this rate, how long will Microsoft prop up RT?

The most recent figures from IDC say that 1.8 million Windows 8 tablets were sold in the second quarter of 2013, for a 4% market share. That's compared to a 1% market share the year previous, and a year-over-year growth rate of 527%.
Windows RT, meanwhile, has tanked. IDC says that only 200,000 sold in the quarter, for a dismal 0.5% market share.
Not so Microsoft. Until the most recent round of desperate price cuts, it's been tryint to sell high-priced tablets into a market that doesn't want them. It's not at all clear whether Microsoft will become as consumer-focused as its OEM partners.

As for Windows RT, consider it dead. There's no reason for the platform to exist. Lower-power Intel Haswell chips allow manufacturers to sell power-sipping, full-blown Windows 8 tablets. Almost all of Microsoft's partners have either said they won't make RT tablets, or are now backing away from them. Microsoft will continue to sell the RT-based Surface, if only to save face. But it has no future as a long-term platform.
Windows 8 tablet sales show real life; Windows RT tablets hit rock bottom | Computerworld Blogs
 
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