Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Microsoft Entices Holiday Shoppers With 250 Vista-Ready Product,

TechWeb"There's no precedent in my mind," Harry Wang, research analyst for Parks Associates said.

The closest comparison would be the TV industry, Harry Wang said. Manufacturers selling analog sets today are telling consumers that government coupons will be available in 2008 to help pay for converters that will make it possible for the TVs to receive digital signals. Starting Feb. 17, 2009, TV networks will be required to broadcast only digital programming.

"The PC purchase is more dependent on how badly they need to upgrade their existing one," Harry Wang said.

Other experts are equally skeptical whether there's much Microsoft can do now to drive Vista sales later. Gartner, for example, said offering Vista coupons is unlikely to boost sales because of the cost of upgrading an XP PC. Besides the additional $49 and $79 consumers would reportedly pay for Vista Home Basic and Home Premium, respectively, there's also the cost of having a retailer or reseller install the new OS.

Wang agrees. "Price will be an important factor."

From the article "Microsoft Entices Holiday Shoppers With 250 Vista-Ready Product," by Antone Gonsalves.

Previously In The News

Amazon Prime Video Comes Out On Its Own

This year, Prime Video will air Woody Allen's first-ever TV series, as well as another season of its critically acclaimed alternative-history series, "The Man in the High Castle." In December, it c...

Roku still tops as sales of streaming-media players rise

Streaming-media devices continue to grow in popularity amid swiftly shifting competition, according to a new report. During the first three quarters of 2014, 10 percent of US households with a...

Chromecast at year 1: Why it's more than just an impulse buy (Q&A)

The Chromecast wasn't the first wireless streaming-media dongle to come along -- Roku had one long before -- but the $35 price and the initial offer of three months of free Netflix sparked a flurry...

The next Apple TV puts company in rare role: Playing catch-up

One of the first mainstream devices of its kind, Apple TV is a big seller worldwide. Apple has sold 25 million of the boxes in its lifetime, Chief Executive Tim Cook said in March. That beats Roku'...