Wow to become woe for Microsoft Vista sales

Stan Beer
Friday, 06 April 2007 07:20

Business IT - Technology

Microsoft may be crowing about its early success of Windows Vista sales but a new survey shows that the vast majority of Windows users have no intention of upgrading to the new operating system any time soon.

Last month Microsoft made the contentious claim that it had sold more copies of Vista in its first month of release than XP sold in its first two months. However, a poll of 2223 US online adults conducted online between March 6 and 14 by market research firm Harris Interactive found that while while awareness of Vista is high, interest in upgrading from Windows XP and other Windows versions is very low.

In fact, according to the survey results, the interest in upgrading has dropped markedly. Comparing results from a similar poll taken in December 2006, awareness of Vista has risen from 47% to 87%. Of those who were aware of Vista, those who intend to upgrade has dropped from 20% to just 12%.

The numbers do not portend a great future for Microsoft's new flagship product over the next 12 months.

According to Milton Ellis, Vice President of Harris Interactive's Technology Group, consumers are now reluctant to buy the line consistently pushed by Microsoft with each new operating system release.

"In order to generate that 'WOW' factor, Microsoft will have to put forth a value proposition that will move the majority to the upgrade category in the years ahead," said Ellis.

"Vista promised better performance, reliability, security, and a revolutionary user interface - but it appears consumers looking to upgrade are not ready to buy into the promise whereas new computer buyers will want the latest and greatest. Microsoft has faced this challenge before with operating system upgrades. Consumers tend to wait until a few service packs have been released to fix real or perceived problems. No doubt, Microsoft understands these issues and will proceed accordingly."