Windows 8 Tablet Shipments to Exceed 75M Units by 2015
Microsoft's own Surface tablet looks set to spearhead Windows 8-powered tablets this month.
Windows 8 and Windows RT tablet shipment figures will exceed 75 million units by 2015, according to a research paper published by DigiTimes.
As opposed to a reaction to Android and iOS' growth, Digitimes’ James Wang and Eric Lin suggests the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 8 “marks the opening salvo in the battle for users between PCs and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets”.
They also expect the market share of Windows-based tablets to grow from nothing in 2012 to around eight per cent by 2015 with shipments expected to hit the 75 million mark.
Also suggested by the report is that Microsoft is apparently planning a simplified version of Windows Phone 7 that will be priced at around $100.
Windows 8, which has already had some of its apps updated, will be launching on October 26, while Microsoft-developed tablet Surface is due for a simultaneous launch.

We run two-monitor setups in our office (Using the tablets would make 3!) and run VM's but sometimes we have to go on-site and take our laptops with us which is inconvenient (Having to try and find a stable platform to put the thing on to type etc..)
With a tablet you can just cradle it in one arm and type on-screen.
Jokes aside, If MS really wants that figures to be realized, they really have to get aggressive with the pricing. And $499 for the entry model is not what most people called "aggressive pricing".
I'm not sure which part is the Cr$p.
That the sales for Windows 8 is projected to be only 75 Million over a three year period. Consider that Windows 7 sells about 20 Million every month. It's going to take them 3 years to to do what Win 7 does every 3-4 months. Or that they will only have about 8% market share with Win 8.
Consumer confidence looks to be very low for Windows 8. There's no way Windows 7 is going away any time soon. If it does MS may as well close the doors to the OS market.
Who knows what the competition will do in that time though... I think it will be interesting to see how it plays out though. I do think that both Android and iOS have better app designs so far. But the ability to use a wacom pen and traditional windows software make that pretty easy to overlook for me.
"The Lumia 900 will change the smartphone world"...
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Windows-Phone-iOS-Lumia-900-Android-IHS,news-13958.html
Maybe the Digitimes report was written before the RT pricing announcement ?
RT just sounds like a bad joke. Actual, full Windows 8 tablets are where it's at. I'm hoping to replace my iPad 2 with one early next year. But at the $500 price point, if you aren't getting a REAL operating system, and it's between Windows RT and iOS, I can't see why you'd go with RT.
These days, I think so. Maybe 2 years ago it was still a chuckling statement.. but now it's buried and worn out. Just like the "No HDMI, no deal" or "Does it have HDMI?".
so who gives a damn right? /sarcasm. or is it?
I would say MS may have to close it's doors to the Desktop OS market if Windows 8 on desktops isn't changed and Windows 9 flops even harder.
But, you have to keep in mind that this is just tablets, this isn't including Desktops and the OS by it's self. So the total number of "Windows 8" sales will be higher than just Windows 8 on tablets. Some people will still buy the OS on the desktop.
Expecting to jump from 0% to 8% market share in just tablets in 2-3 years is a big mistake in my book if they are counting on it happening. Given the pricing, the current global markets, and that some people already have tablets. It really doesn't seem likely to happen, unless I'm overestimating the number of tablets already out there.