RSSNPD: 2008 was a bad year for operating systems
By Tim Conneally | Published February 17, 2009, 6:24 PM
Market research company NPD released its non-game software sales figures for 2008, which showed a nearly 10% overall decline, with operating systems taking the greatest hit, selling 40% less than the previous year.
While the data does not take enterprise software deployments into account, the numbers are quite dramatic when considering the lifespan of the operating systems in the consumer market. Though due consideration can be given to the various Linux operating systems, any changes within their 1% collective market share would have only a minimal effect on the health of the OS market overall.
When speaking of consumer operating systems, we speak of Windows which holds an 89% share of the market, and Mac OS which has 10%. Between these two in 2008, we speak of Windows Vista, which was released in November 2006, and OS X.5 (a.k.a., Leopard) which was released in October 2007.
In June 2008, Windows XP's Direct OEM and Retail license availability came to an end. Although not an abrupt ending by any means, the more popular half of the one-time most popular operating system was removed from retail halfway through the year. Without actually having any numbers at your fingertips, doesn't it sound like the removal of XP equated to the immediate removal of 40% of the OS market?
This 40% decline in revenue was met with a 13% decline in unit volume, to a total of 38 million units, and a 4% increase in average selling price (ASP).
Of all the software categories designated by NPD, the only one not to see negative growth was business software, which managed a 1% improvement, led by Microsoft Office Home and Student, thanks to a $20 drop in price against the previous year.
I think many people are waiting for Windows 7, that could be one reason why the drop in OS sales in 2008. Windows 7 is expected in the second half of 2009 and I think we will see a pretty big increase in OS sales due to that.
Score: 1
|yup that's true
Score: 0
|No matter how you look at it, it's always a bad year for Windoze. If 1 out of every 3 PC's in the world is infected with malware, as far as I'm concerned the PC world really blows.
But people are wisening up and switching to Macs. That's why it's market share is now at 10% which a few years ago was unthinkable. Within 6 months to a year the Mac market share will be 20% thanks to the Mac using Obama administration! :)
Score: -5
|So Obama is going to hand everyone an extra $1500 to spend on a $500 computer? I hadn't heard about that legislation.
Score: 2
|lol...
But then he'd also have to provide the money that Mac users spend on getting their 'unique' pieces of hardware serviced.
Score: 1
|PC sales slumped this year, it's no surprise OS sales suffered.
Score: 0
|XP, the one time most popular OS? hmm, isn't that still the case lol, Vista being a distant second, OS X then Linux, though i'm not sure what the article is trying to get at, removing XP from retail did not suddenly decrease the market by 40%, that 90% number is just holding steady for Windows
i'm willing to bet money that % will increase later this year
Score: 1
|the 40% drop is in total OS sales...not just windows.
Score: 0
|It is tough to include "Linux" in the rationale.
Although you "can" in fact buy Linux, I would venture to guess that most people who use it do not purchase it. Instead, they use a free version and skip the support/retail box.
Score: 0
|Or, download it...install it/dual boot it and use Windows mainly anyway.
Linux, despite what any zealots have to say - is far, far from being a friendly consumer OS.
I've tried very hard to rely on it (using Ubuntu and Fedora) as my MAIN OS and I just can't do it.
I've also exposed friends and family, trying to see if maybe I could replicate the results of so-called stories I've heard of people getting their 60+ year old parents to love it...and I can't. I CAN say that it makes a great living room/kitchen OS where people just sit down to surf the net' or want to throw on some music. But as a main computer? Where you want to download and install a variety of programs to fit everyday and specialty needs? No way.
Score: 2
|i use a few versions, and none are friendly... you run into a hardware issue, or driver issue you're pretty much done =P that and getting help is impossible for your avg joe
Score: 0
|