I kid you not. Weeks after the introduction of “8″, “7″ is still the best-selling OS on Wintel PCs at Walmart. Oh there is an XP-refurbished machine and and a few “7″ with “upgrade option to 8″ but the first real “8″ machine is number 22…
seeDesktop Computers : Computers – Walmart.com.
What does that say about market share for “8″? According to Wikimedia, 0.32% of page-views came from “8″ in October. Granted, it was less than a full month, but this is nothing like the advent of “7″ which gained a couple of percent in the first month.
Something tells me the channel from OEM to retailer is regretting investing anything in “8″.
17501
12787
206
3
2
23952 
11874 
11726 
4651 
4277 
1642 
198 
14 
2 
1 
0 
0 
I was in Best Buy Friday and a sales associate asked if I needed help. I inquired as to whether they had Chromebooks. The sales guy immediately started exclaiming that he wished he did, but he hadn’t seen any. Oh, if he only had them, he could sell all of them he could get and besides, he was a big Google fan! I looked at one of the laptops pathetically displaying that comical “8″ desktop and said, “Microsoft is dead.” Despite the generous commissions he receives direct from MS for each “8″ sold, he smiled broadly, as we both nodded in agreement.
Pog, don’t you think that its a trifle early to be declaring victory?
What does it matter to a Debian user, that W8 is not as popular as W7? It’s not like all those that skip W8 run to download Debian stable.
MK wrote, “What does it matter to a Debian user, that W8 is not as popular as W7? “
It matters because every user disillusioned with that other OS is a potential GNU/Linux user
It matters because every user disillusioned with that other OS is a potential GNU/Linux user
Perhaps for those computer users who what I call hobbyist/tinkerers, you may have a point. but the average person is used to treating a computer as an appliance. And the linux desktop is still not an appliance.
Of course you could take solace in the fact that tablets and phones running the commercial OS named android are very populat, but then again that success has very little to do with the linux that you know and love.
“Pog, don’t you think that its a trifle early to be declaring victory?”
Hmmmm, don’t see Pog “declaring victory” anywhere in his post. He is simply stating facts. So far Win8 sales are a bomb compared to earlier versions of Windows. No surprise there. Win8 is a loser product. Maybe things will improve sales wise for Win8….but I doubt it.
Nice of you to put words in his mouth.
Go take your meds oldman.
Whatever…
The retailers have invested a lot in pushing Windows 8 Between discounting old stock to extra offers to try to get it out door. This cuts into a retailers bottom line.
Windows 8 lack of sales are not going to make them particularly happy. It will make them question the shelf space they give windows. I already see stores here that were PC only now have shelf space for Apple and chrome books. So bomb bad enough retailers in more markets most likely will put up the token Linux machine to see what will happen.
The issue here is we are at a saturation point. This also means the number of retailers that can make a living will reduce. So expect to see some savage infighting between the retailers.
The race to bottom has started. Race to bottom is traditionally trigger by a market somewhere going saturation. After enough vendors have died does that market return to a normal profit making market.
“So expect to see some savage infighting between the retailers.”
Additionally M$FT has made one really serious error in judgement and that is thinking they can not only handle software but also move in a big way into the hardware arena.
For years they have gotten away with pushing the software support issues down the chain to the hardware manufacturers, companies like Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo etc. Now M$FT thinks they can move into hardware but what awaits them, and their shareholders as a result of this move is decreased profits and increased costs. Costs that used to be carried by all the OEM’s in the past.
Add to that how unhappy OEM’s are about this move and things don’t look too rosy for M$FT.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57545024-75/acer-warns-microsoft-that-hardware-is-like-hard-rice/
Google with Nexus has been very careful where able not to lock out the hardware makers. Google lays down a list of conditions a Nexus device must meet and any company meeting that can use the Nexus brand.
I have not seen a Microsoft equal with Surface. Surface could be another zune and play for sure. Result where the MS released hardware undermined the software side.
Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo etc. bitter memories about Microsoft prior entries into the hardware game. So you can expect them to be distrusting.
Mind you the Surface tablet is the 4 thing called Surface by Microsoft. Yes Microsoft is very busy recycling brands to try to recover advertising expend and not to have to add a title to their product graveyard.
oldman wrote, “the linux desktop is still not an appliance”.
That’s funny. Tell all the OEMs and retailers who sell millions of GNU/Linux desktops to ordinary consumers around the world. Tell all the students, government employees and business employees that use them routinely day in and day out. Tell my wife who uses four different GNU/Linux PCs, and an Android/Linux smart phone in our home. Tell the gaming companies who are beginning to produce versions of games for GNU/Linux because it works.