Device promises a boost for ailing Windows 8
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Microsoft is working on a seven-inch version of its Surface tablet that will go into mass production this year - in response to a boom in compact devices. "The seven-inch display size has become very popular on the tablet market. In the Western European market, it was the best-selling in the fourth quarter of 2012 with 42 percent of devices shipped," Chrystelle Labesque, IDC Research Manager EMEA Personal Computing, confirmed to pressetext .
Surface: Smaller model should attract customers (Photo: microsoft.com)
Microsoft could use a new successful tablet model to give the Windows 8 family a much-needed boost. Because in the classic PC segment, the new operating system could not provide a breath of fresh air according to current data. On the contrary, the sales figures are IDC http://www.idc.com according to a slump in the first quarter of 2013 like never before - for which the market researchers make Windows 8 jointly responsible.
Worrying break-in
According to IDC, the PC market shrank by 2013 percent in the first quarter of 13,9 compared to the previous year - the biggest slump since the company first published quarterly figures in 1994. "Unfortunately, it now seems clear that Windows 8 not only failed to give the PC market a positive impetus, but has apparently slowed market development," said Bob O'Donnell, IDC Program Vice President, Clients and Displays. According to the analyst firm, a shrinkage of the PC market was to be expected, but the extent is as surprising as it is worrying.
In principle, the decline in PC sales is of course strongly related to the trend towards tablets and smartphones. Because customers are increasingly turning to these devices, which puts particularly low-cost PCs under pressure - mini-notebooks are a dying class. In the tablet segment, on the other hand, the trend is increasingly towards compact devices with screen diagonals of eight inches and less, such as Apple's iPad Mini or Google's Nexus 7.
Fast Microsoft response
According to the WSJ, Microsoft is reacting to this trend with the planned seven-inch model of its Surface tablet - and this unusually quickly for the conditions of the software giant, whose Surface RT was initially only available in a few large European countries. "Nevertheless, Microsoft was among the top 2012 tablet providers for Western Europe in the fourth quarter of 10," emphasizes Labesque. How successful the device is from a global perspective is still difficult to say - in smaller countries like Austria and Switzerland it only arrived around two months ago.
It remains to be seen whether a compact tablet, where users are more open to the new user interface of the Windows 8 family than on the classic desktop, can really give the operating system a new boost. In general, the variety of form factors and devices in Windows 8 caused confusion and a wait-and-see attitude, says Labesque. "The key to revitalizing Windows would be training and communication on the user experience," the analyst is convinced.
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