Gartner research reports are compiled after months of surveys, interviews and carefully done analysis. So when they say something about any upcoming product, or an on-going tech industry trend or anything at all – it sounds like a solid deal. 

Gartner recently reported a drop of 4.9% in the overall PC sales around the world. This is Microsoft’s fourth quarter already, and things are looking bleak for the company. The recent drop in PC, particularly Windows OS users, has been attributed to the company’s most recent release.

Yes, it is Windows 8, perhaps the real culprit here. Ever since Microsoft has released Windows 8, its sales have been slowly declining. We have written a little bit about how the latest operating system has been received by consumers in the public. Apparently, even though Microsoft is claiming a hefty number of Windows 8 units sold worldwide, it has not been impressive enough.

Sad to say that the ice is a little thin for Windows 8 these days. Mikako Kitawaga is currently holding position at Gartner Research as the Principal Analyst. Mikako said:

“Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs, not so much by ‘cannibalizing’ PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs. This transformation was triggered by the availability of compelling low-cost tablets in 2012, and will continue until the installed base of PCs declines to accommodate tablets as the primary consumption device.”

Holiday season is supposed to be a gold pot for companies. However, for Microsoft, it didn’t go as expected. People were mostly aching to get their hands on smartphones, iDevices and cheap tablets. These products were most wanted; particularly the tablets were more of a “must have” accessory.

Where Does Windows 8 Kick The Beehive?

Windows loyalists had a lot of expectations prior to Windows 8 launch. Especially all the big tech trend analysts out there; they wanted to see how much Microsoft’s latest OS is going to impact the market. Windows does not have that sense of excitement, which most products have. In fact, when Windows 8 was about to be launched, I didn’t see a lot hype, or anticipation for that matter.

In related news, Gartner Research also reported that overall Hewlett Packard sales have been on the rise. It means that things are not bleak for Microsoft. If the company were to sign contracts with HP and many other platforms, Windows 8 sales and reputation could get a spike. At least, against Lenovo and other Chinese vendors, HP’s sales did not decline over the last year.

Take a look at what Gartner charts have to say:

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 at 6:11 PM and is filed under Microsoft, National News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.