Microsoft Expects To Ship 350m Windows 7 Devices This Year

Microsoft said it expects 350 million devices running Windows 7 to ship this year.

According to a Bloomberg report, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, speaking at a 21 May forum in Seoul, said shipping 350 million Windows 7 devices “makes Windows the most popular single system“.

Last month, Microsoft said it had sold more than 350 million licences of Windows 7 in the 18 months the OS had been available at the time. However, now Ballmer is reportedly claiming Microsoft will sell 350 million Windows 7 licences in 2012 alone.

Licences shipped

On 22 April, Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc, wrote in a blog post, “18 months ago to this day was when we launched Windows 7 and with that we’ve hit another important milestone: we are pleased to announce that Windows 7 has sold more than 350 million licences. The momentum we’ve seen and continue to see with Windows 7 is incredible.”

Also in April, in announcing its third-quarter earnings, Microsoft said its Windows and Windows Live Division posted revenue of $4.62 billion (£2.9bn), a 4 percent increase from the prior year period. Strong Windows 7 adoption continued with enterprise desktops on Windows 7 now up to 40 percent worldwide, the company said.

“We saw strong demand for our business desktop and infrastructure offerings,” said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft, following the earnings report.

The news of bustling Windows 7 sales comes as Microsoft girds for the upcoming release of Windows 8, which will thrust the company into direct competition with Apple in the hot tablet space. Windows 8 features support for ARM-based devices and sports a snazzy new “Metro” user interface for touch devices. Microsoft is betting big and pinning its hopes on success with Windows 8. Microsoft is expected to finish work on Windows 8 this summer and ship it in October.

“We’re driving toward exciting launches across the entire company, while delivering strong financial results,” Ballmer said in an 19 April statement following the company’s third-quarter financial results. “With the upcoming release of new Windows 8 PCs and tablets, the next version of Office, and a wide array of products and services for the enterprise and consumers, we will be delivering exceptional value to all our customers in the year ahead.”

PC growth

IDC forecasts that the PC market will grow 5 percent in 2012, up from the 1.8 percent growth in 2011. Also, according to the Bloomberg report:

More than 103 million tablet devices will be sold in 2012, with sales tripling to 326.3 million in 2015, according to Gartner Inc. Apple is set to account for two-thirds of the market in 2012, Gartner estimates. The company’s share will drop to 46 percent by 2015, while Microsoft’s will climb to 11 percent.

Futuresource Consulting also sees tablet sales increasing, but at a different rate. Global tablet sales exceeded 64 million units in 2011 and are on track to soar to 232 million units in 2016, according to the latest Tablet Technology and Markets report from Futuresource Consulting.

Futuresource said tablet ownership in the consumer market will increase by 200 percent across the US and Western Europe over the next two years. The two regions reached an installed base of nearly 52 million tablets in 2011, with the market on track to exceed 153 million units in 2013. Ownership will be highest in the US, with Western European markets showing significant opportunities for growth.

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