PC sales up, Windows sales down at Robert Pogson

This thread of comments on GROKLAW
PC sales up, Windows sales down , connects a bunch of dots.

PC Sales are up globally but up a lot less in the USA (14.6% up year/year in Q1 2008 globally but only 3.5% up in the USA)
Most retailers have been selling Vista only but some are now selling machines with XP
M$ has reduced prices in the emerging markets where the most growth is taking place.
Prices for Vista are similar to or higher than for XP
Illegal use of software is down, not up, despite what the BSA says.

Conclusion, Vista sales are seriously weak. When XP is killed in June, the retail sailes of XP will disappear and enterprise/wholesale/OEM sales will dry up soon after. Expect more good news in the second and third quarters. By the time the dinosaur responds, it will be too late. The rodents/penguins will take/over. Many millions of machines incapable of running Vista were sold in the last two years and sales of Vista are unlikely to pick up for a couple of years at least, meaning the window of opportunity for GNU/Linux will remain wide open. 2008 is the first year in M$’s history that they have had any serious competition for the PC OS. Good fun.

Based on web stats and Mac sales figures, we are quite sure GNU/Linux has reached 6% of seats on the web. I would not be surprised to see the figure double this year.

My Mission

My observations and opinions about IT are based on 40 years of use in science and technology and lately, in education. I like IT that is fast, cost-effective and reliable. I do not care whether my solution is the same as yours. I like to think for myself.

My first use of GNU/Linux in 2001 was so remarkably better than what I had been using, I feel it is important work to share GNU/Linux with the world. I have been blessed by working in schools where students and school systems have benefited by good, modular software easily installed in most systems.

I have shown GNU/Linux to thousands of students and hundreds of teachers over the years and will continue in some way doing that until I die in spite of the opposition.