Windows Falls Behind iOS and Android as Mobile Devices Unseat Desktops

[dgstorm]

It is happening now folks. History is in the making and it isn't a history that Microsoft is likely to be happy about. According to an in-depth analysis by Goldman Sachs, Microsoft's Windows operating system has now fallen behind iOS and Android. To sum it up, the problem isn't that Microsoft is losing the operating system war on dekstop PCs. They are still the absolute dominant ruler of that realm. The problem is that desktop PCs are losing the device war. Smartphones and tablets have completely unseated the desktop PC as the important and "go-to" consumer device of choice for purchases. Here's a quote with a few more tidbits,

Why? Because, "The compute landscape has undergone a dramatic transformation over the last decade with consumers responsible for the massive market realignment. While PCs were the primary Internet connected device in 2000 (139mn shipped that year), today they represent just 29% of all Internet connected devices (1.2bn devices to ship in 2012), while smartphones and tablets comprise 66% of the total. Further, although Microsoft was the leading OS provider for compute devices in 2000 at 97% share, today the consumer compute market (1.07bn devices) is led by Android at 42% share, followed by Apple at 24%, Microsoft at 20% and other vendors at 14%."

Goldman Sachs' analysis isn't in a vacuum. Mary Meeker, once a superstar Wall Street analyst, and now a well-respected venture capitalist, recently presented a Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers report titled Internet Trends Year-End Update. The report found that tablets and smartphones were out-selling PCs in 2010's 4th quarter and have since left them in the dust. By 2013's 2nd quarter, Meeker predicts, the Apple- and Android-dominated smartphone and tablets installed base will be greater than the Windows PC installed base. Today, by Meeker's numbers, Apple iOS and Google Android have 45% of the market to Windows' 35% .

So it looks like the coin has turned. There are now more mobile devices being sold than PCs? Could this be the beginning of the end for the traditional PC? Obviously it will take years (or decades) to completely phase the PC, especially from businesses, but this is definitely a trend that cannot be ignored. Share your thoughts in the forums.

Source: AndroidAuthority

 

[zeeshan]

We can all breathe a breath of fresh air. Hamadoun said this was a "missed opportunity", but we'd have to strongly disagree. The UN has no business governing the internet. We'd like to hear your thoughts. Good move or was this a missed opportunity?

 

[Natey2]

If one could get a sub-$100 Windows 7 or 8 laptop, many people would probably pick that over a sub-$100 Android 4.x tablet, simply because Windows is more well known than Android to the masses out there.
But there is no sub-$100 Windows 7 or 8 laptop out there. And the sub-$100 Android tablets are drawing many new people into the mobile computing arena. These people will upgrade to a more powerful Android device (like the Nexus 7 or 10 tablet) when they discover the useability of Android.

 

[J515OP]

Natey hit on it a little bit. You really can't compare phones and tablets to PCs. First of all it is not uncommon to have more than one mobile phone plus one or more tablets whereas PCs are frequently shared by an entire family. That alone results in more phones and tablets being sold than PCs. Next you factor in the price. Phones are heavily subsidized with most people paying between $0 and $199 for their device on contract. Tablets don't start much higher and are being heavily subsidized by Amazon and Google (selling very near cost) just to get people into their app stores. So the individual to device ratio plus the low cost compared to PCs means the numbers are simply in favor of phones and tablets and this should not be a surprise to anybody who thinks about it for a minute.

The tone of the article suggests this is about a shift in OSes as much as devices and is a war MS is losing. This is not really the case MS has seen the shift just as the analysts have and has moved fiercely into mobile. They revised their entire OS so that they will partake in the shift to mobile devices just as much as any of the other companies. At the end of the day though they are still about the only game in town when it comes to PCs. So within a couple of years it is easy to estimate a roughly equal 30% share of the mobile OSes by Apple, Android and MS with Ms still dominating the PC market. When all "computing devices" are taken as a whole and the OSes looked at this will probably put MS with something like 50%-60% of the OS share on all devices even when you factor in the decline of the PC. Maybe it isn't the MS domination of 90% of all PCs they used to enjoy but in the end they will most likely continue to have the most dominant OS in the world.

JP