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Microsoft's attempt to regain relevance and defend its core franchise with Windows 8 is off to a "shaky," "tepid" start, says the New York Times.

Emmanuel Fromont, president of the America's division of Acer, the number four PC maker, tells Nick Wingfield at the Times sales of Windows 8 PCs are coming in worse than expected. "It's a slow start, there's no question," says Fromont.

Fromont isn't the only person telling this story. At the end of November, Asus CFO David Chang said, "Demand for Windows 8 is not that good right now."

And in the Times' story, NPD analyst Stephen Baker is quoted as saying, "I think everybody would have hoped for a better start." (NPD previously issued a negative report on the state of Windows 8.)

There are two reasons Windows 8 sales are slower than expected.

  • Windows 8 is a new experience with a steep learning curve that is intimidating some consumers.
  • Consumers are buying iPads, and delaying upgrades of their Windows-based PCs.

We didn't reach out to Microsoft for comment on this story, but we know what it would say.

Microsoft would say it's still too early to judge. It would say NPD's data set is incomplete. It would say that it announced 40 million Windows 8 upgrades, which is better than it did with Windows 7 over a comparable period of time.

All of those are legitimated rebuttals. This is an ongoing story for Microsoft. But at first glance, it's just not looking great for Microsoft.

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