The holiday shopping period's Black Friday kickoff is a popularity contest for all consumer electronics categories, but Microsoft's products, in particular, have a lot to prove. The launch of Windows 8 in 2012 fizzled—and with it, the hopes of retailers, who also relied on new Windows PCs to drive sales of additional peripherals and accessories. Next, the Windows 8.1 upgrade was supposed to rescue the PC, until it became clear it wouldn't. Nor have sales of Microsoft's Surface tablets and Windows Phones threatened any iOS- or Android-based rivals. Microsoft has shifted from the company that could save retail, to the company that needs saving.
With another Black Friday come and gone, the signs for Microsoft remain uncertain. Based on retail promotions, most stores threw their support behind competing categories. Recent data indicates that holiday sales of Windows PCs are (not surprisingly) down so far. Sales of its Windows tablets and phones, while on the uptick, are nothing next to the rampant success of cheap TVs and Android tablets.
Microsoft needs to turn the tide–and it can't rely on other retailers to do the heavy lifting. Microsoft is going to have to make its own success, in its own stores.
Cheap tablets and TVs won Black Friday
Based on sales data released by NPD Research, cheap TVs and tablets (none Microsoft's) won Black Friday. Android tablet sales increased a whopping 146 percent from a year ago, and 80 percent of those sales were of seven-inch Android tablets. NPD also said the average price of the seven-inch tablets sold during the week was a mere $82. Small televisions finished a close second— for one simple reason, according to NPD's Stephen Baker: Everyone can use one. "People can fit a 32-inch TV pretty much anywhere," Baker said. Also, televisions aren't dependent upon operating systems or apps.
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