Ha, who would have thought they’d be reading a headline like this! Go back six to eight months, and it seemed that every other person was blaming Windows 8 for the lackluster PC sales. Not many thought the PC hardware industry shared the bulk of the blame.
But it is remarkable how much things can change in under a year.
The latest version of Windows is set to take flight later this month, and many notebook makers have already hopped on the Windows 8.1 bandwagon. Toshiba, Dell, Lenovo and a few others have revealed their newest models, and the remaining ones are expected to do so in the near future.
And users — enterprises, in particular — have taken interest in these recent unveilings.
This report claims that notebook shipments are slowly regaining lost territory, while demand for tablets has started to decrease ever so slightly. In fact, estimated shipment growth for slates in 2013 has been reduced to 50 percent, down from the previous estimate of 70 percent.
And this trend is now expected to continue into 2014 too. It may sound a bit surprising, but expected growth numbers for next year have shrunk to the lows of 25 to 30 percent.
The main reason for this is the advent of new models of Windows 8.1 notebooks and ultrabooks. The laptop market is on track for a significant refresh with affordable touchscreen models ready to hit the store shelves.
Both business users and average consumers are now interested in these new devices.
If things go according to plan we may well have some encouraging numbers soon after the Holiday season. Here is hoping we hear some insight from hardware companies and Microsoft if it happens.
