IT Home, June 30th report, according to foreign media ZDNET, Microsoft Executive Vice President Yusuf Mehdi stated in a blog post last week that there are more than 1 billion active devices running the Windows system worldwide.

This number sounds quite good, but referring to Microsoft's 2022 annual financial report, there were over 1.4 billion devices using Windows 10/11 at that time. Considering that these official documents have been carefully reviewed by the company's legal department, it can be basically concluded that the Windows user base has been quietly shrinking over the past three years, losing about 400 million users.

This may also be the reason why Microsoft has been actively promoting users to upgrade to Windows 11 in recent years. As older operating systems gradually stop support, Microsoft hopes users will install the latest version of Windows on their existing computers.

Although Apple's macOS indeed poses a threat to Windows, especially after the launch of Apple's self-developed chips (Apple Silicon), we cannot simply assume that all 400 million lost users have bought Macs. Because as early as 2023, Mac sales had already begun to decline. Statista data shows that this product line, which once accounted for more than 85% of Apple's revenue, now accounts for about 7.7%.

In fact, many people are gradually giving up traditional computers and turning to increasingly powerful smartphones and tablets. Nowadays, the remaining main consumer market for Windows PCs is actually two groups of people: gamers and professionals who rely on specific Windows software. Although the pandemic brought about about three years of PC sales growth, from the overall trend, the decline in PC demand is still ongoing.

Additionally, Windows 10 will officially stop support, which is expected to drive a new wave of enterprise purchases, as companies need the latest software to ensure system security. However, for ordinary consumers, this is not necessarily an incentive. After all, even without updates, their Windows 10 computers can still be used normally, although they may be more vulnerable to security threats.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7521530604552028682/

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