Best Buy is looking to increase sales of new PCs powered by Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system by offering a two-week promotional discount of $100 on any new touchscreen laptop and desktop computers, but the deal excludes Microsoft’s Surface device.
“Touch is a critical component to Windows 8 from a customer satisfaction perspective,” Best Buy’s vice president for computing, Jason Bonfig, mentioned in an interview. Best Buy is planning on absorbing the cost of the discount along with the PC makers, Microsoft, and Intel, and decided to begin this promotion after a recent survey indicated that consumers were happier with a touchscreen-based Windows 8 computer, compared to a non-touchscreen PC. Best Buy’s survey also revealed that 74% of touchscreen PC consumers liked Windows 8 “somewhat” or “very much” and 53% of “conventional Windows 8 PCs” consumers actually liked the operating system. unfortunately, this promotion does not apply to Windows 8 powered tablets, including the Surface tablet. Best Buy did not explain why the promotion excluded the tablets.
