MICROSOFT Philippines sees its presence in the tablet segment to widen with the introduction of the Windows 10 operating system (OS).
At the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft’s latest, free OS upgrade, the tech giant foresees its reach to expand in the tablet-device segment which is currently taking the backseat to personal computers (PC) and laptop segments.
The company celebrates its 20th year of operations in the Philippines next month. “The majority of Windows users still use PCs and laptops. Our presence in the PC market is at 95 percent, but we see a boost in growth in the tablet space with the new OS,” said Mae Moreno, Windows client lead for Microsoft Philippines, in an interview with reporters.
Majority of the 11 million Windows patrons are still PC and laptop-users, said Moreno, but the reach of the OS through smaller, more compact devices such as mobile phones and tablets is also increasing.
Moreno declined to reveal the penetration rate of Microsoft in the tablet market, but assures the rate will improve with the push of Microsoft for users to upgrade to Windows 10.
The Windows 10 upgrade will feature a new browser (Microsoft Edge), and will first be released for download on PC and laptops. Moreno said this would be available for the mobile phone and tablets in the latter months of 2015.
To increase usability among mobile users, Microsoft will have the Microsoft Phone Companion App that will work on iPhones, Windows phones and Android phones to work with Windows 10.
The upgraded OS will be free for devices running 7 and 8.1; for older versions, Windows 10 will have to be purchased online.
“Windows 10 will be free within one year of its introduction. After that, users will have to pay so we urge users now to download. For the lifetime of their device, they will get free updates; it’s not just a trial period,” Moreno said.
Further propping up the reach of Windows 10 is the aggressive rollout of its hardware partners such as Acer, HP, Lenovo, Dell and Asus, all with new tablet models.
While the presence of Windows in the mobile space is still small at the moment, Moreno is upbeat that the segment will be on an uptrend, as well.