Microsoft has been in news for quite some time now, especially with the release of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, and now it seems like the company is back in the limelight with some new numbers to show from the latest Windows 8 refresh. Per reports, the Redmond-based company has confirmed that it has currently sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses.
Tami Reller, the Windows Chief Marketing and Financial Officer, revealed the figure during a recent speech at Credit Suisse 2012 Annual Technology Conference. The sales numbers have arrived shortly after Microsoft revealed it had sold four million upgrade copies of Windows 8 in the first few days of sales in October.
“The journey is just beginning, but I am pleased to announce today that we have sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses so far,” Tami stated in the speech.
While critics may argue that the recent sales figure is “well below Microsoft's internal projections," with the information arriving from Microsoft insider Paul Thurrott who recently stated that sales of Windows 8 PC's are disappointing and internally the blame is being placed on manufacturers' "inability to deliver," the latest figures appear to suggest that Windows 8 licenses are doing ok and may do better as time passes.
However, the sales number does represent a firm yet subdued start for the touch-friendly operating system designed to combat Apple and Google's domination of mobile computing, which has forced aside PCs in favor of the new generation iPads and smartphones.
“The launch of Windows 8 at the end of October also saw the grand opening of the Windows Store. There were more apps in the Windows Store at launch than any other app store at their launch and since then, the number of apps in the Windows Store has doubled,” the official Windows blog states. “A number of apps in the Windows Store have crossed the $25,000 revenue mark and the developer keeps 80% of the revenue they make off downloads for the life of their app.”
If compared with the previously released Windows 7, Microsoft sold 60 million licenses of Windows 7 after just over two months of sales.
Microsoft is yet to reveal the company’s Windows RT sales or any figures for the company's recently launched Surface RT tablet.
