Windows 8 Ultrabooks Looking to Go 100% Touch, More Computers to Follow
Posted by aonenetworks On December 18, 2013
Around seventy percent of Windows 8 Ultrabooks are already touch screen, says Senior President Kirk Skaugen, but the company’s goal is to push that to a hundred percent in the coming months.
Windows 8 has always been oriented towards touch screens, whether those screens are on a phone or a computer, and it seems audiences are finally warming up to that idea. All three types of Ultrabooks – clamshell laptops, hybrid convertibles, and detachables that can separate from their keyboards – are going touch-screen only.
Window PC sales aren’t mainly Ultrabooks, though the computer model is catching on, especially in touch screen models of Ultrabooks. “Touch has been doing much better in August than in any other month,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of the analysis department of the NPD group. In fact, touchscreen Ultrabooks accounted for about 30% of all Windows 8 notebook sales in August alone. In the beginning of 2013, touch screen Windows 8 devices only occupied around 10% of the market, so the leap has been astounding in the past eight months.
Baker believes the huge jump in popularity has been the price change on some of the touch screen computers. Many of the prices of older models – and even a few new ones – has dropped below $500, making them a competitor with the non-touch screen versions of Windows 8 laptops. As the holiday season approaches, predictions seem to indicate that touch screen computers will be on quite a few Christmas lists.
Intel’s technology is also helping push the market towards touch devices. In January, the chip company came out with a Core called the “Haswell” that could only be installed in touch devices. This means any computer, Ultrabook or not, that has this Haswell Core must also be touch – no exceptions.
Touch share has now started to gain as well, and the numbers are “improving dramatically” according to Baker. Other companies are also starting to consider touch screen computers as well, and more and more laptop companies are looking for affordable, attractive ways to integrate touch technology into their devices.
Time will tell whether Windows 8 becomes the leader of touch devices, or whether another victor will come out ahead. Either way, now is the time to integrate touch technology learning into your office if you haven’t already.
