Microsoft (MSFT) is offering a $20 Windows 8 license discount to OEMs for touch-enabled...

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D_Virginia Comments (1680)
 
> as PC industry forecasts continue to slide

I wonder if there's a saturation component at play here? Computers are semi-durable goods, once everyone who can buy one already has one, it will be a while before they buy a new one...
6 Mar, 10:06 AM Reply Like

rjgood Comments (177)
 
I agree D_Virginia and LonW, the PC market is saturated. As will be the smartphone/tablet market by Q4 2014. NOK is already targeting the 'next billion users', here in 2013.

Smartphones/tablets are disposable on a 2 year lifecycle, PCs and Servers are 3-5 year lifecycle. The market will get very interesting in 2015 as the Samsung/Apple tablets/phones get tossed in the trash and the consumer now can start fresh with any ecosystem.

MSFT is in transition in 2013, from a software sales company to a service company (Azure Cloud, Office 365, Xbox Gold, etc.) I expect Windows 9 & Office to be free to OEMs, and MSFT will make their money on services.

MSFT has a challenge to convert the 1.2-1.8 billion PCs to touch Windows 8 by mid-2014, but I believe they can capture a majority of those devices before those users go GOOG or AAPL.

MSFT has the slow-moving, cautious and security-centric Enterprise and Government sectors, that will continue to be entrenched in MSFT desktops and servers. Enterprise/Govt. will be a rock during this transition.
6 Mar, 11:36 AM Reply Like

LonW Comments (106)
 
You have a good point D_Virginia. I update my computers at work about every 3 years, but I do not update them all at once. I phased them in over 1 1/2 year period. Update computers at home about once every 5 to 10 years.
6 Mar, 10:24 AM Reply Like

Asok_II Comments (12)
 
Holy crap, Batman! Cut from $120 to $30 for both W8 AND Office? Talk about total desperation! Still, it's not gonna help. Sure, the same hardware vendors who originally slurped up a bunch of the Windows 8 Kool-Aid and who are now losing their shirts because of that will slurp this new batch up also. But consumers have already wised up about Windows 8, and the stupid vendors will lose even MORE of their shirts because Microsoft could offer Windows 8 for free, heck even try to PAY people to use it, and people still won't use it because Metro UI is such a horrible interface.

Windows 8 is DOA just as predicted a year ago, and literally PAYING consumers to to use it isn't going to work. By the time this "new class" of tiny-screen Windows 8 thingies comes out this fall, Windows 8 will have such a bad reputation that anything that includes it will be radioactive. Microsoft is beating a dead horse and trying to convince its "partners" to help futilely flog the dead thing back to life too.
6 Mar, 11:03 AM Reply Like

KevinRemde Comments (273)
 
Wow.. lemme guess... Apple fanboi?
Asok_II -You are in the minority, I'm afraid. People love Windows 7, and people who try it for any length of time adjust and like Windows 8 because they can do the very same stuff with the very same desktop apps... only it runs faster, starts quicker, uses less hardware resources, and just happens to have a Start Screen and apps that work well if you have a touchscreen.

But hey.. it's all personal preference. You go ahead and be happy with all your iThis and AndroidThat.. and I'll have devices that eventually will all run the same applications on my desk, in my pocket, and on a big screen in my family room.

Important Disclaimer: I work for and am long MSFT. Yeah, I'm a fan. :)
6 Mar, 11:19 AM Reply Like

Asok_II Comments (12)
 
You guessed wrong dude! I work exclusively on Windows devices and make my living supporting them. Windows 8 threatens my livelihood because people are jumping the Microsoft ship and never coming back because Metro UI is the final straw. Either that or they are delaying purchase of a new PC, hoping Microsoft comes to their senses by the time Windows 9 is released and quits trying to foist a cell-phone interface onto every PC in the world.
6 Mar, 12:07 PM Reply Like

dchi3 Comments (8)
 
I totally agree with your comments.
7 Mar, 10:39 PM Reply Like