• Report: Microsoft's PC Dominance Has Plummeted Since 2008

    by
    Michael Essany
    Published on 2013-10-11 03:45 AM
    8 Comments Comments


    If you look up the definition of the word "freefall," you might find a picture of Microsoft's once mighty PC dominance.

    Since 2008, Microsoft’s share of personal computing devices plummeted from a formerly commanding 90% all the way down to 33%.

    And it doesn't look like the floor has been reached yet.

    Horace Dediu of Asymco is out with a new report that shows how different today's market is from where it was 60 months ago. Back in 2008, Windows PCs represented nearly 90% of all computing devices. But with the emergence of iOS- and Android-powered devices, Microsoft hasn't enjoyed those lofty levels ever since the mobile revolution began in earnest.

    Gartner reported that PC shipments totaled 80.3 million units in Q3. Subtracting an estimated 4.4 million Macs yields an estimated 75.9 million Windows PCs. This total is lower than the total shipped in the same period of 2008.
    It goes without saying that in 2008, few - if any - analysts accurately predicted Microsoft's loss of dominant market share. "Looking back the past 5 years can only tell us one thing," a reader comment on Dediu's published report states, "Trying to predict what will happen in the next 5 years is a futile effort."

    Source: Horace Dediu of Asymco
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Report: Microsoft's PC Dominance Has Plummeted Since 2008 started by Michael Essany View original post
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    2. Apple
    Comments 8 Comments
    1. hogcia's Avatar
      hogcia - 2013-10-11, 04:12 AM
      All I have to say is that windows vista and 8 just added insult to injury for Microsoft. I still love windows 7 thought.
    1. klouud's Avatar
      klouud - 2013-10-11, 04:18 AM
      Wait... so... are we only comparing PC's or are we throwing tablets and phones in the mix? I agree that Microsoft got complacent and it came back to bite them, HECK I made a hardcore 180 after Vista right into Mac fanboyism... but I seriously doubt that MS commands 33% of PC market share right now.
    1. exNavy's Avatar
      exNavy - 2013-10-11, 04:56 AM
      PCs not PC's. Peopl'e su're lik'e stick'ing apost'rophes i'n every'thing thes'e day's.
    1. Jahooba's Avatar
      Jahooba - 2013-10-11, 05:47 AM
      Windows 7 was/ is great. And then they had to go and make Windows 8 and ruin it all. Looks like I'll be on 7 for the foreseeable future.
    1. NegativeBeef's Avatar
      NegativeBeef - 2013-10-11, 08:36 AM
      It says "personal computing devices" which probably includes tablets and smart phones.
    1. Slim J's Avatar
      Slim J - 2013-10-11, 01:06 PM
      Those results were seriously skewed with throwing tablets in the mix. I'm sure if tablets were taken out to where it was only desktops and laptops, Microsoft would still come on top and yes bot Vista and 8 were complete disasters.

      I had an old desktop several years ago that came with Vista on it and I downgraded it to XP until 7 came out which is what I ran on it until I retired it a couple of months ago. My laptop I've had for a little over 2 years now has Windows 7, but I dualbooted 8.1 for a little bit to see if there was any improvement over 8, but I really didn't see any so I just run 7 and Ubuntu on it now. I also built me a new gaming PC this summer when the Haswell CPU came out and I put bot Windows 7 and Ubuntu on it and don't plan on moving to 8.1 or any other version of Windows until they can quit ruining Windows. If they can't I'll have to switch to something else
    1. fleurya's Avatar
      fleurya - 2013-10-11, 02:16 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by klouud View Post
      Wait... so... are we only comparing PC's or are we throwing tablets and phones in the mix? I agree that Microsoft got complacent and it came back to bite them, HECK I made a hardcore 180 after Vista right into Mac fanboyism... but I seriously doubt that MS commands 33% of PC market share right now.
      I think tablets, maybe even phones, are a legitimate addition. When you look at the consumer market, the majority of people's computing needs are little more than media consumption, internet activity, and social networking. Before tablets people had no choice but to buy a full-blown PC to get these needs. Now they can just get them from tablets. Sales numbers of PCs support this fact where we see PC sales fall as tablet sales rise. This is basically what Jobs had in mind when he talked about a "post-PC" generation. People need computing devices more, but more just for internet-related activity. They don't need a full PC for that. Just like not everyone that needs a car needs a pickup truck or needs to know how to be a mechanic.

      All the data seems to prove that tablets are definitely a supplementary product to PCs, and therefore should be counted among them. Of course, you'll have a hard time proving this among gadget blog commenters as apparently they are are hard core coders and graphic designers (read: gamers) that only represent about 1-5% of the total population anyway.
    1. Perceptum's Avatar
      Perceptum - 2013-10-11, 06:22 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by exNavy View Post
      PCs not PC's. Peopl'e su're lik'e stick'ing apost'rophes i'n every'thing thes'e day's.
      Just like people who need to point out the mistakes of others.

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