Windows 8 launch set to match or beat Windows 7 launch

Windows 8

Windows 8 will likely match or beat Windows 7 launch results.

Late Thursday Microsoft said it’s sales of Windows 8 had reached $1.36 billion, as of September 20th, 2012. (FY2013 Q1 financial release)

That’s just slightly less than the $1.47 billion in pre-sales licenses of Windows 7, the most successful computer operating system of all time. (Microsoft Earnings Release Q1 2009 and All Things D) 

Most of the Windows 8 sales would be to OEM computer makers. 34 million licenses of Windows 8 were sold before September 30th.

In 2009, Microsoft pre-sold just slightly more or 36 million Windows 7 licenses.

The Windows 8 pre-sales are even more impressive when you consider Microsoft was booking consumer orders 4 months before the October 22, 2009  launch of Windows 7 while Windows 8 pre-sales started just 2 weeks ago.

Although the exact price is a trade secret, OEM computer manufacturers are estimated to pay about $40 per license for Windows 8. (Tom’s Hardware Microsoft Reveals Windows 8 OEM Licensing Prices)

Within 2 days of allowing consumers to pre-order Microsoft Windows 8 Pro upgrade, the $70 discounted upgrade was # 1 in software sales at Amazon.com.

During the pre-launch of Windows 7, the upgrade packages only reached # 2 on the Amazon.com sales Top 100. (Computerworld Windows 7 pre-orders grab Amazon’s top sales spots)

That puts to rest the analysts worrying that Windows 8 would be a failure. Reading the tea leaves over the summer, some pundits predicted Windows 8 adoption was running 5 times behind Windows 7.

Computerworld reported Poor pre-launch showing plagues Windows 8 . “Now five times less likely to be on a PC than early-adoption benchmark set by Windows 7,” reported Windows-watcher Greg Keizer.

Year over year, the PC industry declined a modest 1.2% as consumers moved to mobile platforms this year, the first year over year drop in unit sales in a decade.

Windows Surface RT Start with Live Tiles (photo Microsoft)

Microsoft Windows 8 is a radical change for Microsoft since it now extends the Windows franchise from the desktop to mobile platforms. Microsoft is also selling its own hardware with Windows 8 by launching the Surface tablet.

In direct competition with Apple’s iPhone/iPad and Google’s Android, Windows 8 will be essentially the same from desktop to tablet and phone.

Microsoft 8 launches on October 26, 2012. Upgrades can be ordered from most computer retailers including Amazon.com and directly from the Microsoft Store.

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network