Sales of Microsoft's Windows 8 OS reach 40 million

Tami Reller, the new head of Windows at Microsoft, announced at the Credit Suisse 2012 Annual Technology Conference on 27 November 2012, that the month old Windows 8 operating system had already shifted an impressive 40 million units. Although Microsoft was reportedly disappointed with the sales of Windows 8 PCs, the software itself has been keeping up with the initial sales that Windows 7 enjoyed.

Windows 8 has a long way to go to surpass the +525 million sales of Windows 7. The 26 October 2012 release meant Windows 8 would attract holiday season buyers (for both Thanksgiving and Christmas), meaning sales will likely be leaner within the first few months of 2013. Reller stated obstacles such as the lack of Windows 8 hardware and the amount of companies that have only just upgraded to Windows 7 as affecting potential sales figures.

However, positives for Microsoft include the good reception of the Microsoft Surface and the Windows 8 Store releasing thousands of apps to attract users. The marketing budget for Windows 8 was estimated at between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion, so the software giant will be hoping that Windows 8 can match or surpass Windows 7's first year sales of 175 million copies.

Source(s)