By Steven D. Jones
Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows 8 didn't exactly ring in the
New Year for PC makers.
Sales of Microsoft-powered notebook PCs fell 11% in the
five-week holiday-selling season, according to research firm NPD
Group. Windows 8 was released Oct. 26.
The report is based on weekly data gathered from large consumer
retailers such as Best Buy Co. (BBY), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)
and retail websites, but it excludes sales of the company's Surface
tablet computer and other devices sold at Microsoft stores and
websites.
Windows 8 "did little to boost holiday sales or improve the
year-long Windows notebook sales decline," said Stephen Baker, vice
president of industry analysis at NPD Group.
Microsoft declined to comment. In late November, the company
said it had sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses, which included
those sold to hardware manufacturers and consumers.
Notebook unit sales fell about 11% over the Black Friday
shopping weekend and remained at that level through the period
ending Dec. 22. Average selling prices for Windows notebook PCs
were $420, up $2 from the same period a year ago.
By comparison, the average price for Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) MacBook
rose $100 to $1,419, largely from the added cost of the company's
new Retina Display on many models, Mr. Baker said.
A similar retail survey ended in November found selling prices
for all Windows PCs, both desktop and notebook models, had climbed
to $477. The average price for desktops and notebooks through the
holiday selling period fell to $430. Prices "always trend down
because of aggressive discounting" during the holidays, said Mr.
Baker.
Windows 8 has a touch-screen interface for tablets and PCs as
well as a traditional keyboard and mouse interfaces. Microsoft
executives and PC makers have said they don't expect a fast start
for Windows 8 because many touch-screen devices aren't in the
market yet.
Touch-screen notebooks made up 4.5% of Windows 8 sales with
selling prices around $700. Sales of Windows notebooks under $500
fell 16%, while sales of notebooks over that price increased
4%.
Microsoft's own Surface tablet debuted with Windows 8 software
on Oct. 26 at a price of $499. The next version of the Surface
tablet running Windows 8 Pro aimed at business users will appear
soon and sell for $899 to $999, plus about $120 for the attachable
keyboard that is a major selling point of the current Surface RT
model.
One reason the Pro version of the device will be more expensive
is that it uses a PC-style chip from Intel Corp. (INTC), part of a
family of chips that sells for between $177 and $225. The Nvidia
Corp. (NVDA) chip typically used in the Surface RT model costs
about $28, according to an estimate by research firm UBM
TechInsights.
Write to Steven D. Jones at steve-d.jones@dowjones.com
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