Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

Microsoft says Windows 7 doing well so far

Uptake of the new OS should be quick among consumers, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said

Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system has been doing well in the market since it launched nearly two weeks ago, Microsoft executives said Wednesday.

"We've heard positive things from our partners," said Steve Guggenheimer, vice president for OEM sales at Microsoft, on the sidelines of a news conference in Taipei. He said it's too early to say what Windows 7 sales look like.

The much anticipated OS went to market on Oct. 22, installed in a range of desktop and laptop PCs. Manufacturers around the world had been working overtime to ready devices for the launch.

But the global recession has caused people to question how Windows 7 sales have been since the launch. Growth has returned to many countries, including a 3.5 percent increase in third quarter GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the U.S., but many economists say a full recovery will take time.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the new OS will take over quickly among consumers, while in businesses he expects steady growth. "The overall response to Windows 7 has been positive," he said during a news conference.

Microsoft's Windows OSs have lost market share over the past several months to Apple, according to data tracker Net Applications. Microsoft's share of the OS market dropped to 92.55 percent at the end of October, compared to 93.66 percent in January. Apple's share has increased to 5.27 percent from 4.71 percent. Linux and other OSs make up the remainder of the market.

There have also been signs the PC industry is slowing down, which could hurt Windows 7.

Acer, the world's second largest PC vendor, complained of component shortages in the third quarter that hampered its ability to bring products to market. Executives at the company said their third quarter shipments would have been better had they had the right materials.

Most of the world's major PC contract manufacturers revised their shipment targets for the fourth quarter down compared to previous estimates, notes Jenny Lai, research analyst at CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, in a report from Monday. Guidance was cut by around 5 percent for the fourth quarter, she wrote. Shipments in the first quarter of next year could drop 10 percent to 15 percent, worse than expected, she noted.

"Most of the companies blame the target revision to component shortages, especially those in DDR2 (double data rate, second generation) memory, optical disk drive pick up heads and high-end MLCC capacitors," she wrote, adding that the "component shortage is real but in our view is not the only reason."

One additional reason is the expected launch of new Intel microprocessors in the first quarter, she said, noting that people might put off new PC purchases until the new chips are inside.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: Acer, Apple, CLSA, Intel, Linux, Microsoft

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: Acer, CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, Microsoft, Windows 7
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • The Case for Real-Time Networking
    CIOs are facing several powerful trends and inflection points that are defining the new IT landscape, including cloud computing, virtualization, the consumerization of IT, smart computing, and communications to collaboration. Taken individually, each one of these trends will have significant ripple effects throughout the planning and operations of IT network infrastructure. In aggregate, they will have an even more dramatic impact on the way that future network architectures need to be planned and designed. Read on.
    Learn more »
  • Managing IBM License Complexity
    IBM provides thousands of products in its portfolio and uses a variety of license models, contract terms and conditions. These license models can be very complex, causing frequent confusion for organisations trying to grasp the concepts while maintaining license compliance. While at first IBM licensing may seem incomprehensible, some education on the license models and licensing scenarios will help minimise the confusion. In addition, a more automated approach to managing licenses enables organisations to gain control, reduce ongoing software costs and minimise license liability risks. Read on.
    Learn more »
  • A Technical Overview of the Oracle Exadata Database Machine and Exadata Storage Server
    Businesses today increasingly need to leverage a unified database platform to enable the deployment and consolidation of all applications onto one common infrastructure. Whether OLTP, DW or mixed workload a common infrastructure delivers the efficiencies and reusability the datacenter needs – and provides the reality of grid computing in-house. Read on.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
Recent comments