Microsoft
Windows 8 still selling much slower than predecessors
Microsoft has been peddling Windows 8 for a while now in the hopes that the operating system would spur new PC sales. While the operating system has proven to be popular, PC sales are still down significantly in most segments.
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Microsoft is bragging that it has now sold 200 million licenses for Windows 8. That sounds like a lot of sales, and it is, but it is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the massive amount of Windows 7 and Windows XP licenses out there.
“Windows 8 has surpassed 200 million licenses sold, and we continue to see momentum,” a Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNet. “… Windows is a central part of life for more than 1.5 billion people around the world, and we are looking forward to the future.”
Digital Trends also notes that the pace of Windows 8 reaching 200 million licenses sold is also behind the pace of Windows 7 when it hit the same milestone. Another update to Windows 8 is expected in the next few months. Microsoft is certainly hoping that will help spur more sales for the operating system. Whether or not the update results in more sales remains to be seen.
The 200 million licenses sold number does count laptops and PCs sold with the OS pre-installed. It also counts stand-alone Windows 8 upgrades. It has been 15 months since Windows 8 launched. By comparison, Windows 7 sold 240 million licenses in 12 months.