Dubai: Microsoft’s new operating system – Windows 8 — hasn’t got off to a brisk start as customers still prefer Windows 7 as their preferred choice.
Microsoft launched the Windows 8 on October 26, globally and in Dubai.
“So far the demand has been okay. Lot of brands has not launched the Windows 8 devices. Only a few vendors have launched it in the market,” Ashish Panjabi, Chief Operating Officer of Jacky’s Electronics, told Gulf News.
“Commercial takeoff is not that good and retailers are still holding on to their Windows 7 inventory,” Nadeem Khanzadah, Head of Retail, Jumbo Electronics, said.
End users are not keen to shell $300 more for the touch-screen machines run by the new software.
Retailers are pinning hopes on the holiday season and Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) to fuel demand for Windows 8 sales.
According to StatCounter Global Stats, Windows 7 has 52.93 per cent of the global OS market as of October, followed by Windows XP with 27.03 per cent, and Windows 8 with 0.35 per cent. In the UAE, Windows 7 has 60.09 per cent market share, followed by XP with 21.11 per cent and Windows 8 with 0.31 per cent.
“Windows 8 will get a big boost when consumers can get a wide variety of choices and when they get used to the new user interface on the new platform,” retailers said.
“We still have stocks on Windows 7 laptops. Many people are still buying the laptops [Windows 7] as they are not used to the new user interface. The prices for the Windows 7 laptops haven’t fallen further from Gitex,” Panjabi said.
“It will take at least a quarter for the Windows 7 laptops to be sold completely,” he said.
Khanzadah said that by start of DSF, around 80-90 per cent of the laptops sold will be on the new software.
