Windows 8 reaches 100m licences, more devices entering the channel

By Phumeza Tontsi for Tarsus Technology Group
Johannesburg, 10 Jul 2013

Microsoft recently announced its flagship product, the Windows 8 operating system, has passed the milestone of 100 million licences sold in the six months since its launched in October last year. The new figures indicate sales of around 40 million licences since January, when the discounted upgrade offer for early adopters ended.

In addition, Microsoft indicated that over 250 million apps have been downloaded from the Windows Store at the same time. It also revealed that a major update to the operating system, Windows 8.1, will be released before the end of the year.

Reseller partners looking to assist clients with an upgrade program can be assured that the volume of devices now in the channel is in line with vendor supply, says Tarsus Technologies' Microsoft product manager, Andrew Firman.

"Historically, it takes some time to fully run out of any older line of hardware product as the new generation emerges," says Firman. "We saw that with Windows XP, Windows Vista and now Windows 7. Windows 8 devices now account for more than half of our inventory for both notebooks and desktops, and as touch devices become a bigger part of the hardware line-up from vendors, the more likely the user will be to see that hardware partnered with Windows 8 enhances the real Windows 8 experience and leads to increased customer demand."

Firman says smaller touch-screen devices running full Windows 8 are becoming available at a rapid rate. These match the mobility needs of Windows-based businesses better than low-power tablets have so far, and may help to offset the falling demand for PCs seen globally in recent quarterly reports from both Gartner and IDC.

Despite the headlines surrounding that drop in PC shipments, businesses are continuing to invest in new IT. Gartner's Mikako Kitagawa was particularly upbeat: "Unlike the consumer PC segment, the professional PC market, which accounts for about half of overall PC shipments, has seen growth, driven by continuing PC refreshes. Despite the fact that some regions already passed the peak of PC refresh, overall professional PC demand continued to grow," she said.

Tarsus' Firman says resellers and their customers should also be aware that they need to plan around the forthcoming end-of-life plans for Windows XP.

"Microsoft will be withdrawing support for Windows XP on 8 April 2014," Firman explains. "So the legacy PC user will need to adapt, as continuing on Windows XP will mean third-generation old technology, higher service and support costs and higher security risks."

For firms that have already migrated to Windows 7 and aren't ready to move to Windows 8 yet, the Windows 8 licence allows for Windows 8 Pro keys to be downgraded to the older and more familiar Windows 7 operating system.

Tarsus Technologies

With more than 28 years of experience in the ICT industry, Tarsus is the leading value-added distributor in South Africa, specialising in the supply of the world's foremost PC and peripheral hardware brands to the local reseller channel.

Tarsus strives to meet the channel's needs for credit funding, stock availability and efficient logistics, ensuring that resellers are able to deliver the highest quality service to their customers, focus on support and compiling the best overall solutions for their end-user customer base at the lowest possible cost.

The company prides itself on its flexibility, adaptability, knowledge, skills and successful track record combined with an industry-leading ability to manage large roll-outs. These are the reasons Tarsus has consistently been rated as the top distributor in the country by international vendors, resellers and the IT media alike.

With its strong commitment to the South African channel, Tarsus is able to not only make the reseller channel more efficient, but more importantly, it plays a vital role in dramatically reducing the costs of doing business in the local ICT market.

Tarsus distributes a range of products from the world's leading manufacturers, including Acer, AOC, APC, ASUS, Cisco, Dell, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, Meissner, Microsoft, NETGEAR, OKI and Samsung.

Tarsus' head office is situated in Johannesburg with branches in Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Nelspruit. Tarsus has also extended its footprint into Africa with branches in Namibia, Botswana and Mauritius.

More information about Tarsus is available at:http://www.tarsus.co.za.

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