HP Exec Claims Windows XP Extinction Could Reinvigorate Slumping PC Sales with Windows 8 Demand
Well now, here’s an angle we hadn’t heard before: Enrique Lore, senior vice president and general manager of HP's business PC unit, told reporters that he believes Windows 8 adoption will ramp up when Microsoft stops supporting Windows XP in April.
The logic is that commercial deployments in particular will send Windows 8 sales soaring. As companies are forced to phase out their legacy systems running Windows XP and replace their fleets of computers, they’ll naturally upgrade to systems running the most recent Windows OS, which is currently Windows 8. According to TechDay, Lore says that 40%-50% of business users are still running Windows XP, so that’s theoretically a lot of PCs that will be sold with Windows 8 on board.
Image credit: TechDay
This is a sad state of affairs indeed. Essentially, what HP is saying here is that Windows 8 sales will go up because Microsoft is effectively forcing people to upgrade by ending support for Windows XP. Thus, sales ostensibly would have nothing to do with the actual Windows 8 product; it’s like herding sheep from one pen to the other.
Of course, Microsoft needs to stop supporting Windows XP eventually, and doing so three major generational OS releases later is a fine time to do it. HP is wise to ride that wave and drum up some business for itself in the process, even if those sales figures won’t indicate any level of enthusiasm for the operating system running on its lineup of new systems.
The logic is that commercial deployments in particular will send Windows 8 sales soaring. As companies are forced to phase out their legacy systems running Windows XP and replace their fleets of computers, they’ll naturally upgrade to systems running the most recent Windows OS, which is currently Windows 8. According to TechDay, Lore says that 40%-50% of business users are still running Windows XP, so that’s theoretically a lot of PCs that will be sold with Windows 8 on board.
Image credit: TechDay
This is a sad state of affairs indeed. Essentially, what HP is saying here is that Windows 8 sales will go up because Microsoft is effectively forcing people to upgrade by ending support for Windows XP. Thus, sales ostensibly would have nothing to do with the actual Windows 8 product; it’s like herding sheep from one pen to the other.
Of course, Microsoft needs to stop supporting Windows XP eventually, and doing so three major generational OS releases later is a fine time to do it. HP is wise to ride that wave and drum up some business for itself in the process, even if those sales figures won’t indicate any level of enthusiasm for the operating system running on its lineup of new systems.
