“Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer used his Worldwide Partners Conference keynote on Monday to tout Windows 7’s success while trying to downplay the success of the Mac,” Electronista reports.
“The most recent OS had now reached 400 million licenses sold, up from 350 million in the winter and still growing faster than XP. He added that there were 350 million new PCs sold in the past year and used the large number, without comparing gains, to argue that Microsoft had no reason to worry about the Mac or Linux,” Electronista reports. “‘350 million, 350 million new PCs sold,’ Ballmer said. ‘That might compare with numbers from other guys that are in the 20 million range… now, 20 is too much, but 350 the last time I checked is a lot more than 20.'”
Advertisement: Students, parents and Faculty save up to $200 on a new Mac.
Electronista reports, “While an important factor for context, the data also belies the rate of growth seen on each side. Apple stressed in its most recent results that the Mac had been outgrowing the overall computer market every quarter for the past five years and, this year, has been growing even as the field has been shrinking. Microsoft saw a four percent decline in Windows revenue at the start of the year, in part because of a 40 percent drop in netbook revenue as users stopped buying netbooks and bought iPads instead.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Mr. Ballmer is doing a fabulous job and, as always, we urge Microsoft shareholders to remain comatose for as long as it takes.
Related articles:
Apple likely to dethrone HP as leading portable PC vendor in 2012 – July 1, 2011
Apple makes more profit selling one Mac than HP does from 7 PCs – June 24, 2011
Apple now worth more than Wintel (Microsoft and Intel combined) – June 3, 2011
First quarter PC forecast: Microsoft’s Windows down 2%, Apple’s Mac+iPad up 250% – April 14, 2011
Excellent – Ballmer continues to declare that everything is fine, and he doesn’t need to change course – “Iceberg? Pshaw! Full speed ahead!” I like his strategy, I like it a lot.
For as long as it takes!
And on the horizon, Windows 8, an operating system that mirrors the eroding market share Windows Phone 7 UI. Brilliant! I know some people have complimented the Windows Phone 7 UI, but after having personally used it, UNLESS YOU HAVE ONLY 6 APPS, the UI is retarded! How do you organize 45 apps? The Windows Phone 7 ads are right. It lets you get back to your life, because there’s not a damn thing to do on the phone!
Do they have 45 apps yet?
Just a few more years of this kind of acceleration and we will pass them.
Hey I can do math. Microsoft has sold 400 Windows license since its launch 2 years ago, that is 16.7 million per month.
Last quarter Apple sold 4.13 million Macs or 1.42 million per month. Now that would put Apple’s market share at 8.5%, if none of those Windows users bought a license to use on a Mac and you ignore the acceleration trend (Mac sales accelerating, Windows sales decelerating if not reversing).
Injecting even more unwanted reality into Ballmer’s bragging, “Windows 7 licenses sold” does not equal “Windows 7 PCs sold”. E.g., selling Windows 7 licenses to Dell counts towards Windows 7 licenses sold, however, it fails to tell you how many people actually purchased the Dell PCs running it.
Then there’s the fact that MS played(still plays?) games to inflate the numbers, such as including Windows 7 licenses with PCs sold with an XP “downgrade”. Speaking of which, how many people are buying Windows 7 PCs only because new PCs running previous versions of Windows aren’t available, wiping 7, and installing XP?
Licenses sold is a worthless metric for judging how well Windows 7 is faring. But 400 million IS a big number! That’s gotta count for something! Right? Well, Ballmer thinks so…
May he never buy a clue.
I just put my brain on. Ballmer said that 6 months ago Microsoft had sold 350 million Win 7 licenses and 50 million since (for the sake of simplicity I’ll accept channel sales as sales). Apple has sold a little over 8 million Macs and 13 million iPads in that same period meaning Windows market share is down to just over 70% and Apple is up to just over 29% (18% iPad, 11% Mac). Ouch.
I dont see how ms is playing the numbers, for MS the license is the sale.
It does not matter how many pcs Dell has sitting around MS got paid
From a Microsoft bean counter perspective, 1 person buying 400 million licenses for 1 computer is just as good as buying 400 million licenses for 400 million computers.
From a market share perspective it matters a great deal as the former is 0.0000002% of the market and the latter 75% (though dropping to 64% this quarter).
Sure but no one actually buys millions of licenses for one machine.
The only real thing you can figure with market share numbers is there is a percentage of error or percentage of difference and its probably at least 1-2%.
There are too many variables to nail it down exactly and besides the market tends to correct itself over time.
When Apple posts sales figures for the Mac I never hear anyone say “What about the people who bought mac minis, wiped OS X and installed some form of Linux and used them as servers?” From a market share perspective no new mac users were added in those cases and I know of at least 2 guys who have done just this and overall its a meaningless thing to even try and figure it into the equation.
The only reason to even take the time and *guess* on numbers like that is to skew a statistic to one view or another. Really if it meant anything MS and Apple would already be trying to track that data on their own.
I was involved in a forklift upgrade project for Dept. of Energy last year, where we received 500 HP computers that came with Win 7 installed and we had to reimage every single one of them to XP, because that was the DOE standard. We did not use Win 7. How’s that for injecting unwanted reality?
what part is forced upon the users (choice of lazy employers) and what part is removed even before the machine is switched on (Linux users)?
I would like to see the split between consumer and corporate sales. I discount corporate sales because there is a lot of infrastructure built up over the years around Windows. For a large corporation to move to a new platform is a huge task. The bigger the company the bigger the task.
Our company is still running main frame programs that are over 40 years old. Moving off the “legacy” programs is a 5-10 YEAR project. Then their is the desktop. We built several core programs in .NET. Here is where MS gets it numbers from corporate. They are requiring us to migrate to Windows 7. The hooks are to deep for us to go some place else. Thus I would discount sales to corporations.
A large number of Windows PC users out there means there is a large pool of potential customers ready to “switch” to Mac at a later date. It’s an Apple “asset.” Apple is not in any big hurry to get them all at once (to be Mac users), because many of those Windows PC users are already using iOS devices. When it’s time to get a new “full” computer (assuming they still need one after iOS 5), they will seriously consider getting a Mac with Lion, to match their iOS device(s).
The recent growth in Mac sales is fueled by the large existing user share for Windows. Over 50% of new Mac customers are new to Apple. The rest of the industry is collectively selling to existing Windows users, while losing a small (but steady) percentage to Apple every year.
Windows 7 is just godawful. Painful to use.
What percentage of those sales is to people loading Windows on a Mac?
Disagree.
VISTA is godawful, windows 7 is actualy usable.
But I also would like to see the new purchases vs upgrades vs mac bootcamp/parallels.
Whether it’s “awful” or “usable” is kind of secondary at this point. That’s why Apple no longer has the “Get a Mac” ads. Mac versus Windows comparisons are no longer useful.
A lot of those Windows “licenses” are being replaced by iPads (not Macs), which Ballmer conveniently does not count in his comparisons. And because of those iPads (and other iOS devices), those customers are much more likely to buy (or at least consider) a Mac, when (or if) they are shopping for a “full-sized” computer the next time. Maybe Windows 7 is now good enough, but for an avid iOS user, Mac OS X Lion is better. And if Microsoft’s Windows 8 demo is any indication, current Windows users are going to feel more “at home” using Mac OS X Lion.
Microsoft loses. Apple wins.
Strange man. Talks about what does not matter, the past. Thinks no one will notice.
Am I not energetic enough? Have you seen me dance on stage?
Ballmer’s company is falling, albeit from a very great height. Instead of being alarmed by the freefall, he complimens himself on the sudden weight loss.
This shows the big difference between Apple and MS. Ballmer consistently says that the existence of ANY competitors products in the marketplace is unacceptable.
Does that strike anyone else here as nuts?
Just like apple’s insistence that the existence of ANY competitors products in the smartphone marketplace is unacceptable?
When has Apple said that?
@usmc, I’m not sure what you are referring to. The patent lawsuits? Tim Cook has said that Apple welcomes competition. Steve Jobs has REPEATEDLY said that for Apple to win, MS does NOT have to lose.
But here’s Balmer. About smart phones, he said that even one iPhone was “too many.” Now any sales of any other OS is something he has to exterminate.
It really IS a different mindset. And Ballmer’s is worrisome; he really cannot tolerate any competition. It’s really adolescent. It’s narcissistic. And WEIRD.
Exactly right. Ballmer even said a last year that Apple had sold more iPads, “than he’d like them to sell.” As if he was angry with Apple for disregarding his wishes. Weird.
No, what apple has said is that “it is not alright to rip us off, to steal our technology, go innovate on your own”.
Apple has never insisted on anything even remotely like this. And in fact, has repeatedly stated the opposite.
Nice try, troll.
usmc: Anonymous Coward TechTard Troll.
When life hands you trolls, trample them.
“that Microsoft had no reason to worry about the Mac or Linux…” was a misprint. It was meant to read “…that Microsoft had no reason to worry about the Mac eerrrrrr, I mean Linux. ”
Hey Ballmy… “a sphincter says……”
Do you know if he includes notebook sales in the 300M number?
If so, it would be only fair to include iPad sales in mac number he is attempting to reference (it’s not 20M but 30M of macs sole in TTM).
2011 YTD:
50 million Windows 7 licenses stuffed into the channel (70%), undoubtedly some of those went to Mac users (BootCamp, Parallels, VMware)
13 million iPads placed in consumers hands (18%)
8 million Macs placed in consumers hands (11%)
2011 3Q (based on consensus real numbers coming next Tuesday):
24.75 million Windows 7 licenses stuffed into the channel (67%)
8 million iPads placed in consumers hands (21.5%)
4.25 million Macs placed in consumers hands (11.5%)
If history is any guide, Apple will beat consensus, thus driving Windows market share down below 2/3 for the first time since Windows 95.
I currently run Win 7 on my Mac, because Microsoft will not allow me to use MS E-Learning on their system, if I do not use MS OS on my machine.
I’m sure I am not alone.
As iOS and OS X continue to merge/interoperate, more and more people will want their “PC” to run like their iOS devices.
One of the big differences I’d like to see is the consumer vs corporate sales. Corporations will take far longer to switch, and may never switch, than consumers. But the paradigm has flipped – instead of consumers buying PCs to match what they use at work, now consumers are demanding their work change to meet the consumer’s usage (I.e., iPhone and iPad).
And Microsoft can’t compete with that.
By the way – this is a good analysis of Mac vs. PC trend:
http://www.asymco.com/2011/04/14/first-quarter-pc-forecast-windows-down-2-macipad-up-250/
What’s his point?
Cockroaches outproduce humans, too.
Does that mean that we should praise the cockroaches?
“Yay! More roaches!”
Sound good? Nah, I didn’t’ think so either.
… he’s quite right that 350 million is a very large number, especially compared to less than 35 million, that is hardly the whole story. Others have mentioned the fact that Mac percentage of sales have increased, year over year, every quarter for five years – and actual sales have also increased, even in quarters when total PC sales have slipped. Same numbers, both pictures “true”, yet … 😉
400 million is all-time. 350 million is Q4 2009 through Q1 2011 (note the iPad has only existed 5 of those 8 quarters). 50 Million is Q2-Q3 2011. 24.75 million is Q3 2011. That is 67% market share vs Apple alone and 65% against Apple, Linux, and Android. That is a massive drop from 73% is Q2 2011 and 98% 5 years ago.
‘That might compare with numbers from other guys that are in the 20 million range… now, 20 is too much, but 350 the last time I checked is a lot more than 20.’
‘So we might as well do it now. Pull off the bandaid. Eat our peas.’
Introduction… Ballmer, Obama… Obama, Ballmer.
There, the first annual ‘Jackass thing to say’ convention is now in session. Membership increase, to follow shortly…
@Now Now
It never fails. Some DOOOOOSH has to work an Obama comment in every frickin’ topic. Doesn’t matter what the topic is about. He’s a gol dang mooslim and hates Amurika and is the antichrist and is the cause of WWI and WWII. He’s the cause of all my woes. I’m not a fan of Obama myself but I’m not wearing a tin foil hat like these people. Get a life and stick to the topic.
Presumably, you’re the lifetime president and chair of the “Jackass Thing to Say” association.
Otherwise how would you have the power to say the convention is in session?
‘Let sleeping dogs lie’ ….
but 350 the last time I checked is a lot more than 20.’”
Good to see that Ball-less understands how much better Apples stock is compared to Microcrap….
How many PCs has Microsoft sold?
Oh. Zero.
Balmer in his usual comfort zone – Windoze Cloudy 7!
Ummm, deni the Mac, belittle the market share, and give a rounding error as sales. Then, copy the crap out of it and yell innovation!
Oh, Do not pay attention to the man behind the curtain!!
Idioit
Did you just mis-spell idiot?
The spin is getting to Ballmer to the point he doesn’t have the ability to acknowledge the rate of change of the industry and the fact that Microsoft is being left behind in mobile.
No one is going to really care about Windoze or Mac in a larger sense in a few years as most consumers will not be using a desktop.
He’s counting the number of times his offshore support staff have practiced their english as a third language skills while re-enabling your legitimate license that has booted up as not genuine Windows 7.
Ironically Capt Smiths telescope is up for sale, I wonder if Balmer is in the market for it. ‘Yes the sea is clear and calm all speed ahead’.
Ballmer actually sold 442 trillion, one hundred and ninety one yotta licenses of windoze 7ista premium ultimate basic for netbooks XXXL. You need a license per atom as outlined in the user agreement.
OK! mac fanboys! By any count, assuming both sides are telling the truth. In a recent artcile, apple said it already sold over 54 million macs or OS X. Microsoft on the other hand, sold 400 million windows 7. I may “not-be-cool-enough” to be a mac, I don’t have a lot of money, like the rest of us. Why will I spend $1199 on a mac-book-pro, when I could spend half of that for an equivalent dell, hp, acer or asus. I know, MACS are better, thats why they sold a whopping 54 million. MACS are super-kicking ass! Windows have been dismal, thats why they only sold 400 million. I’m so confused with these numbers, please help…;-)…
Mr Commodity! Bet his car, wife, kid, and life are all commodity items. Just like his lunch.
Ballmer motto: Seeking mediocrity with passion and pride!
Licensed sold by Microsoft does not equal PCs sold to end users.
The company I work for bought a metric ton of PCs over the last 2 years that came with Windows 7 preinstalled… which we wiped and installed XP instead (and continue to run to this day)
It’s a scam for cheap low end computers that end up costing a ton in $ and frustration after purchase. There’s 400 million mislead but that will change in time as people get sick of the bait and switch. The wave of osx growth will grow exponentially soon. There is a critical point that the switch will happen.
So, there’s room for Apple CPU sales to multiply by a factor of 10, to maybe 200M units per year? That’s great news. I’d love to see AAPL at $3000/share.