Google Nexus 7 sales to surpass 1 million this month, supply chain sources say

Sources in the Nexus 7's supply chain have reportedly said that the tablet will surpass 1 million units in sales this month.

Google’s Nexus 7 is undoubtedly one of the most popular 7-inch tablets on the market, and sales are expected to remain high for the final quarter of 2012. According to DigiTimes, sources in the tablet’s Tawian-based supply chain have said that the slate is projected to sell well over 1 million units in the month of December.

This million mark is no stranger to the Nexus 7; it’s a milestone we’ve heard more than once when it comes to the smaller sized Jelly Bean tablet. At the end of October Asus revealed that Nexus 7 sales had been hitting just under one million units per month. To be exact, previous months had seen sales of up to 700,000 and 800,000, as DigiTimes reports. While it remains unclear exactly how many tablets will be sold during the last month of 2012, this projection paints a picture of strong and consistent sales overall.

Google now offers its 7-inch tablet in a 32GB storage capacity with HSPA+ and AT&T coverage in addition to its previously released 16GB and 32GB models that only offer Wi-Fi connectivity. This Nexus 7 rendition was announced just as Google unveiled its latest additions to the Nexus family: its Nexus 4 handset and Nexus 10 tablet. Both devices were quick to sell out on launch day back in November, and availability has been shaky ever since.

While Asus and Google saw a successful Nexus 7 launch, sales aren’t exactly up to par with Apple’s tablet offering. On the iPad Mini’s launch day alone, Apple sold a total of 3 million iPad units, according to the Associated Press. Apple also dominated Black Friday sales with its line of iPads, as the Cupertino, Calif.-based company managed to claim 88.3 percent of tablet sales the day after Thanksgiving, reports Fortune.

Although Android accounts for an overwhelming portion of the mobile marketplace, data shows that most mobile Web traffic comes from iOS devices. Despite these statistics, Google’s Nexus 7 does appear to be the tablet of choice for Web journalism platforms. On Tuesday the Financial Times announced that it will be offering a free Nexus 7 tablet with each one year subscription in the U.S. Last week, U.K. newspaper The Times revealed that customers would get a discounted Nexus 7.

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Microsoft sells 40 million Windows 8 copies a month after launch

Despite mixed reviews and rumored slow start, Microsoft claims to have sold 40 million copies of Windows 8 merely a month after it was made available for purchase.

If you’re one of those tried-and-true Windows XP or Windows 7 users who has a strong dislike for Windows 8 and its controversial Metro UI, we’ve got some news for you. You’ll be seeing the OS on more and more computers in the near future. In a blog post written Tuesday by Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc, the company announced that since its October 26 launch, 40 million Windows 8 licenses have been sold to date.

This revelation comes after a number of reports of Windows 8 being off to a slow start, and that Microsoft is failing to reach its target sales numbers. Those reports weren’t difficult to believe either, as opinions about the system’s new user interface have been divided even prior to release due to Windows 8' layout, which is more suited for mobile devices than computers. Moreover, many Windows 7 users are actually fond of – and prefer – their current systems. 

Microsoft selling 40 million licenses within four weeks means Windows 8 has sold as well as Windows 7 did when it was first launched. The much-loved (much, much more than Windows Vista, at least) Windows 7, which became the fastest-selling operating system upon release, also hit the 40 million mark within its first month. According to PCWorld, Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer for Windows, Tami Reller, called Windows 8 the company’s biggest project since Windows 95, and said that “Windows 8 is shaping up as one of the company’s most successful products.”

Still, that doesn’t mean there are 40 million people out there using Windows 8. According to Reuters, most of the sales came from PC manufacturers whose computers will ship preloaded with the new operating system, and many of these computers have yet to be bought. Research firm StatCounter puts the actual number of Windows 8 users to roughly 15 million or around 1 percent of the 1.5 billion PC users around the globe. While Microsoft didn’t detail where the 40 million sales came from, Reller – as well as LeBlanc, as evidenced by the blog post announcement – suggests that aside from sales that came from computer manufacturers, the company’s also raking in numbers by way of Windows 8's relatively inexpensive $40 upgrade option. 

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