Windows 8 sales are sluggish and disappointing at retail and in enterprises. Will they pick up in 2013?

The results are in from multiple sources, and it seems quite clear: Windows 8 sales have been sluggish and disappointing. The big question is whether they might pick up next year.

Almost everywhere you turn, people are reporting slow Windows 8 sales.Computerworld reports that Topeka Capital Markets' ODM Barometer of Asian computer manufacturers who build machines for Dell, Hewlett-Packard and others show quite sluggish sales.

Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets had this to say to clients in a note:

"With all of the sales numbers out for our ODM Barometer, October sales rose by 2% month-over-month and below the average performance of up 5% over the past seven years. This is weaker than our preliminary estimate of up 5% month-over-month in October and speaks to the continued challenges in the PC market."
...
"The sales cycle has decelerated further into negative territory, dropping to down 13% year-over-year in October from down 9% in September. This weakness is unusual given that PCs with Windows 8 and new ultrabook products are ramping."

His conclusion:

The Windows 8 ramp is much lower than expected a few months ago."

He's not alone. tech author Paul Thurrot who runs the Supersite for Windows, writes "Sales of Windows 8 PCs are well below Microsoft’s internal projections and have been described inside the company as disappointing."

David Johnson of Forrester Research found that the interest in Windows 8 from enterprises is only half that of Windows 7 during the same period in the operating systems' release cycles. Just before the release of Windows 7, 49% of North American and European IT hardware purchasers interviewed by Forrester were interested in the new operation system. Just before the release of Windows 8, only 24% were interested.

Online retailer NewEgg also has seen slow sales of Windows 8 and Windows 8 hardware, Merle McIntosh, the senior vice president of product management of Newegg North America told ReadWrite

Will 2013 be any different? McIntosh believes that it will. He expects sales of upgrades to Windows 8 to start selling well in the middle of 2013:

"I think it's going to be midway through the first half next year, probably at the end of the first quarter, going into the second quarter, when it really gets some momentum."

And there may be hope in the enterprise as well. Forrester's David Johnson said in his blog that based on research conducted before the launch of Windows 8:

"Employee interest was even higher than I expected prerelease, which means that Windows 8 will likely become a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) force for many organizations."

I think that it may not just be BYOD that may spur sales in the enterprise, but that some enterprises may use Windows 8 in targeted ways as well. I sat down last week with several people from Microsoft involved in the enterprise side of Windows 8 development and sales, and they made a compelling argument that we would start to see targeted Windows 8 deployments for specific purposes, such as for a mobile workforce, in 2013.

So there's no doubt that Windows 8 sales so far have been sluggish. They may pick up next year. If not, Microsoft will have a true problem on its hands, not just a slow launch.

Preston Gralla is a contributing editor for Computerworld and author of more than 40 books, including "Windows 8 Hacks" and "How the Internet Works".

source :

http://blogs.computerworld.com/

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Lelaki maut bermain komputer tanpa henti

Seorang lelaki Thailand dilaporkan maut di hadapan komputernya selepas bermain permainan komputer tanpa henti selama beberapa malam.

Mayat mangsa yang berusia 24 tahun itu ditemui dalam keadaan terduduk di atas kerusi di biliknya di wilayah Samut Songkhram, barat daya Bangkok, semalam.

Pegawai polis tempatan, Chaichana Boonrod berkata, mangsa dipercayai ketagihan bermain permainan video dan mengalami kesukaran untuk tidur, menyebabkan mangsa bermain dari waktu malam hingga pagi.

Mayat mangsa dihantar ke hospital untuk dibedah siasat bagi mengenal pasti punca sebenar kematian. - AFP

SUMBER : UTUSAN 

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Internet 100MBPS pada RM999 hanya di Cyberjaya

Cyberjaya yang merupakan Hab Teknologi Maklumat dan komunikasi (ICT) Nasional, melangkah setapak ke hadapan dengan menawarkan pakej kelajuan Internet pada 100Mbps dengan harga RM999 sebulan, menjadikannya sebagai satu-satunya kawasan di negara ini yang menawarkan kemudahan itu secara komersial.

Menteri Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili berkata pemaju induk Cyberjaya, Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd dan TIME dotCom Bhd, dengan kemudahan daripada Perbadanan Kemajuan Multimedia (MDeC) bekerjasama bagi menyambungkan 3,300 rumah dan 1,400 pejabat dengan 100 peratus rangkaian fiber optik yang membolehkan mereka menikmati kemudahan jalur lebar berkelajuan tinggi.

“MDeC dan Cyberview Sdn Bhd terus bekerjasama dengan Setia Haruman dan pihak berkepentingan yang lain bagi mengenal pasti keperluan perniagaan ICT yang khusus dan insentif MSC Malaysia untuk menggalakkan syarikat-syarikat beroperasi dari Cyberjaya dengan bakal pelabur untuk datang ke bandar itu.

“Kementerian menyokong penuh usaha sama seperti ini dan akan terus bekerjasama dengan Setia Haruman, Cyberview dan MDeC bagi meningkatkan kejayaan ahli perniagaan dan komuniti di Cyberjaya,” katanya semasa merasmikan Pameran dan Persidangan Infra Cyberjaya 2012 di sini, semalam.

Ongkili juga melancarkan projek ‘testbed’ atau ‘WIFI Cloud’, yang berdasarkan kepada seni bina rangkaian tanpa wayar dan merupakan penyelesaian inovatif bagi menyediakan generasi baru dalam ‘Managed Hotspot Services’ yang berupaya menilai khidmat yang ditawarkan kepada pengguna.

Beliau berkata ujian tiga bulan itu dijalankan di Cyberjaya bermula bulan ini dan sebaik ujian percubaan itu berjaya, lokasi strategik di sekitar Cyberjaya akan dipilih bagi pengeluaran awal.

“Dengan teknologi ini, anda boleh dihubungkan pada kelajuan tinggi tidak kira anda berada di mana-mana tempat di Cyberjaya. Ia merupakan mutiara bagi keseluruhan industri ICT,” katanya.

Ongkili berkata inisiatif projek itu adalah sebahagian daripada peranan MDeC bagi membolehkan dan menggalakkan teknologi baru dan yang baru muncul diguna pakai dalam kawasan MSC Malaysia terutama Cyberjaya.

Percubaan itu dijangka menyokong inisiatif jalur lebar kebangsaan dalam merapatkan jurang digital antara kawasan bandar dan luar bandar dan bagi meningkatkan penembusan jalur lebar di kalangan penduduk.

Sementara itu, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif MDeC Datuk Mohd Badlisham Ghazali berkata dengan pakej kelajuan internet 100Mbps, syarikat-syarikat besar dan kecil kini boleh menikmati kemudahan internet berkelajuan tinggi.

Katanya sebelum ini, syarikat-syarikat itu perlu mempunyai talian sendiri yang khusus bagi mendapatkan kelajuan seperti itu dan hanya syarikat-syarikat multinasional mampu memilikinya.

“Khidmat ini amat penting kerana syarikat-syarikat yang beroperasi di Cyberjaya kebanyakannya terbabit dalam pemindahan fail, animasi, khidmat perkongsian, operasi global dan kolaborasi dengan rakan sejawat antarabangsa,” katanya. 

sumber — Bernama