Windows 8 Adoption: Not a Disaster – Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ)

Looking at consumer adoption, Windows 8 is on the rise. According to netmarketshare, the market share of Windows 8 PCs in use climbed to 2.26% in the month of January. Using the number from eTForecasts of 1.6 billion active PCs worldwide at the end of year 2011, there were roughly 36 million Windows 8 PCs in use in January. In contrast, three months after launch, Windows 7 and Vista had 7.57% and 3.3% market share, respectively (PCWorld). Thus, Windows 8 adoption is relatively slow. However, a slower early adoption rate is not surprising because Microsoft changed the UI in Windows 8. The most important data is that Windows 8 use is rising. In December, Windows 8 had a 1.72% market share.

The bottom line

Windows 8 is having a decent start. While the adoption is relatively slow, the level is rising and Windows 8 has a different UI from previous versions of Windows. In addition, year over year PC shipments improved from Q3 and outperformed sales of the Mac by a wide margin. Finally, while tablets remain a threat, the tablet friendly UI of Windows 8 allows the PC industry to battle that threat. Overall, Windows 8 provides the PC industry with versatility, which gives it a good chance of being a big success.

The article Windows 8 Adoption: Not a Disaster originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alvin Gonzales.

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