Windows 8 Sales Reportedly Miss Expectations As Lumia 920 Soars

Here's a new report that might not be very surprising to some folks: apparently Windows 8 is missing Microsoft's internal sales projections. Paul Thurott's Supersite for Windows has apparently talked to a Microsoft employee who says that sales numbers for the new OS are ultimately disappointing. Another thing that's rather unsurprising? Microsoft has reportedly started the finger pointing, blaming its manufacturing partners for introducing a number of unexciting machines.

This serves a couple different purposes. First, it shifts the blame away from Microsoft, and second, it reinforces Microsoft's decision to enter the hardware space with Surface. I liked Windows 8 a lot, but even I know that it's going to take some time for consumers to warm up to the intimidating new design, if they ever do at all. Also, it isn't that shocking to see Windows 8 PCs lagging behind expectations, considering that PC sales have been losing ground to those of smartphones and tablets lately. There's also the still-struggling economy to take into account, so it may not have been the best idea to launch a new OS when Microsoft did.

In an interesting twist, though, it seems that the Nokia Lumia 920 is actually doing quite well. Of course, the Lumia 920 is running Windows Phone 8, so this may be a good sign for the new mobile OS. BGR has spoken to a source who claims that in-store sales of the Lumia 920 have exceeded expectations in some cases, so it looks like the Lumia 920 is holding its own in a sea of other smartphones that have just recently been introduced.

So, Windows 8 is disappointing while Windows Phone 8 may have a hit in the Nokia Lumia 920. Keep in mind that these are both rumors at this point, but both seem to make at least some sense. We'll have to wait for Nokia and Microsoft to release sales numbers before we can say for sure, but it might not be a bad idea to expect numbers that reflect what we're hearing today when they do. Stay tuned.