Microsoft’s long-held dominance over the computing sector is coming to an end, say market experts Gartner.
The industry analysts expect Microsoft’s roost to shrink by over 7% this year alone. And, in further research they’ve conducted, go as far as as to predict the Windows’ makers share slipping as little as 14% by 2017.
But if Microsoft’s grasp is loosening, what’s taking up its slack? Simple: the meteoric march of mobile devices.
As worldwide PC shipments continue to fall – a market in which, back in 2005, commanded 97% of – sales of tablets and smartphones continues to rise.
And, despite the spin, Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Windows RT OS continue to flounder, accounting for a very small percentage of sales over all.
The future, as we’re seeing with Canonical’s investment in Ubuntu Touch, is mobile. Fellow industry gurus IDC said,at the tail end of last year that “Consumers and business buyers are now starting to see smartphones, tablets and PCs as a single continuum of connected devices separated primarily by screen size.”
For Microsoft the future isn’t looking great. Sales of their new operating system continue to eek rather than sprint forward, and with worldwide tablet sales are expected to grow by almost 70% in 2013 – but more companies ruling out shipping Windows 8 RT on them – it seems their relevancy will continue to be questioned for some time to come.
Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi sums up their predicament quite well: “Consumers have options and consumers are choosing. Microsoft cannot take that for granted that they’ll be the one to be chosen.”
Like most towering giants it seems that they haven’t been brought down by an outside inasmuch as their own complacency.