Sales of computers using the Windows 8 operating system have been slower than expected and the variety of consumer electronics on offer is also squeezing consumers’ budgets for PCs, Acer Inc (宏碁) chairman J.T. Wang (王振堂) said on Saturday.
Wang attributed the weaker-than-expected sales since the operating system’s launch in the local market on Oct. 26 to inventory clearing of Windows 7 products, adding that it would also take some time for consumers to get used to the new system.
The emergence of consumer electronics, including smartphones, video game devices and big-screen TVs, and big price cuts for TVs, are also giving less room for PC sales amid the sluggish economy, he said at the Taipei opening of IT Month, Taiwan’s largest consumer electronics show.
IT Month can provide opportunities for consumers to personally experience Windows 8 products and serves as a platform for manufacturers to observe market reactions, he said.
Meanwhile, Wang said in his capacity as chairman of the Taipei Computer Association that the government should give priority to the use of cloud technology for public safety systems and the expansion of wireless Internet services.
The government should have a clearer blueprint and schedule for the launch of cloud services for the police and fire department systems, as well as in disaster prevention, he said.
He also suggested that the government should expand Wi-Fi services in public facilities such as airports, train stations and libraries and build wireless Internet services in remote areas for the less privileged.
IT Month, the nation’s largest consumer electronics show, attracted 135,000 people visitors to try out new electronic devices on the second day of the trade show yesterday, the organizer said.
That brought the total number in the first two days to 255,000 people, after hitting a better-than-expected turnout of nearly 120,000 people on the opening day on Saturday, the Taipei Computer Association said.
Consumers showed strong interest in newly launched notebook computers running Microsoft Corp’s Windows 8 operating system and large-screen TVs as local suppliers launched new models, the association said.
The association said attendance in the morning was so small on the first day that some exhibitors complained about the poor turnout, but more people began to flock to the venue in the afternoon, pushing the turnout higher than the 110,000 people recorded on the opening day of last year’s show.
Also at the fair, employees of Chunghwa Telecom Co, the nation’s largest telecoms operator, said sales of 60-inch TVs made by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) have exceeded expectations and that the company has placed more orders with Hon Hai.
The 60-inch TVs are being bundled with a subscription package to Chunghwa Telecom’s multimedia-on-demand (MOD) services to boost MOD subscriptions.
The opening of IT Month also saw Taiwanese smartphone vendor HTC Corp (宏達電) launch new flagship models, including the HTC 8X and the HTC 8S — both of which use the Windows Phone 8 operating system — and the HTC One S special edition.
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