Here’s an interesting statistic from Goldman Sachs. In just a ten year time frame, Microsoft has gone from owning 93% of the consumer computing device market share back in 2000, to owning 20% of the market share in 2012. This statistic includes Microsoft’s Windows operating systems, as well as PCs and smartphones.
While Microsoft owns 20% of the market share, Android commands the market with 42% share while Apple owns 24% of the consumer computing device market share. However, Goldman Sachs believes that Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 will create a shift for Microsoft and allow the company to gain some more market share in the coming years. “Goldman Sachs views Microsoft’s launches of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 this year, and their performance in the upcoming year, as critical if the company wants to expand its share of the consumer compute market, which is also becoming increasingly influential in the business market, as consumers bring their own computing devices to work, influencing workplace adoption of those devices,” the report stated. This revolves around how well Microsoft’s two new platforms do. “Nevertheless, we are optimistic that Microsoft will be able to regain some share in coming years assuming that adoption trends around the company’s newly launched tablet and smartphone operating systems are positive,” Goldman Sachs adds. Analysts at Goldman Sachs also believe that in order to offset the loss of one traditional Windows PC sale, Microsoft needs to sell approximately 5 Windows Phone or two Windows RT tablets. It is quite interesting to see how the consumer computing device market has changed over the years. For Microsoft’s sake, lets hope the adoption rates for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 are good, so the company can reach a market share level equivalent of what it used to be.
