Sony, HP Feel The Windows 8 Heat; Slash Laptop Prices

Till date, the talk of Windows 8 products failing to meet the expectation of consumers was a mere industry matter. But apparently, the impact of Windows 8's failure to lighten up the PC market has been stated by various research firms across the globe. IDC recently released a report, which talked about the growth of PC shipments in India last year that moved from 10.5 million to 11 million, which is hardly promising. The Global PC market on the other hand saw sales falling by 6.4 per cent to 89 million units, which clearly reflect the state of PC sales affected by the rise in demand for smartphone and even tablets.

The scenario in India is completely different from the global market. The sales of Windows 8 devices have hardly reached respectable level and this is mainly due to the over-inflated pricing of Windows 8 products (starting from Rs 45,000) and in a market where price is a definite consideration, the brands should have understood what they were heading for. Which is why the decision from electronics majors like Sony and HP to slash price of their laptop is hardly surprising. The companies started the price-cutting maneuver in the US market initially and gradually similar strategy is being adopted in India as well. According to the report, the Japan-based and US-based brands have slashed the price of Windows 8 laptop in the country by up to Rs 2,000.

Research figures do not tell the whole story, which is why the decision to slash price of the products was a business ploy that had to be taken. The prices have been observed at multi-brand stores in the country and while both the companies have not officially commented on the matter, we expect other companies to follow suit in the coming months.

Windows 8 has been a failure, Microsoft may not like this but the prospect of converging desktop with mobility devices did not find many takers. To make matters worse, the laptops and hybrid convertibles were priced quite high for everybody's liking, which did not help its case as well.

Experts believe that unless Windows 8 products are priced in the Rs 30,000 and above range, the future of Windows 8 could be shortlived. 
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