Microsoft has been rather shy in sharing sales statistics when it comes to Windows 8. Some had speculated that it may be because the new OS didn’t gain a lot of traction. However, the company has recently divulged that it was able to sell some 100 million Windows 8 licenses within the first six months of its launch.
These numbers may look huge, but we must not forget that the number of Windows 7 licenses sold during first six months of its launch were also in the neighborhood of 100 million. In other words, Windows 8 is mustering more or less the same kind of sales as were garnered by the last OS from Microsoft.
According to the company, it was able to sell 40 million Windows 8 licenses within first month of its launch. Evidently, the sales slowed down after that. Interestingly, the 100 million sales that Microsoft has reported also include such licenses which were purchased by OEMs for the Windows 8 PCs that come pre-loaded with the OS.
According to the chief financial officer of Windows client team, Tami Reller, “If there had been more touch devices in the market, it would have been even more.” He said so while referring to the overall sales of Windows 8 licenses and was quick to note that the sales are consistently going up.
While the total sales of Windows 8 licenses don’t look too bad, nearly all non-Microsoft indicators and analysis show that Windows 7 continues to enjoy the central importance in the overall Windows ecosystem. Users are moving on to Windows 8 but the trend is rather slow.
Courtesy: CNET
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