Apparently There Are Lots Of Consumers Interested in Windows Tablets

The iPad may be a run away success and Windows tablets have hardly been setting the world on fire so you would think that Microsoft are out of the tablet game, but this may not be the case. A survey by Boston Consulting Group (and backed up by Forrester) shows that 42% of US consumers would like to buy a Windows tablet, just ahead of iOS 34% and well ahead of Android.

What consumers are asking for are consumer focused tablets with a touch friendly UI, lightweight and long battery life. In other words the iPad form factor and convenience but the ability to run Windows applications as well. With Windows 8 we could finally get the Windows OS consumers want but OEMS have to deliver a hardware platform that matches up to the OS if they are going to be a success.

Are you holding out for a Windows 8 tablet?

From allthingsd.com

Here’s a new survey out from Boston Consulting Group, which says 42 percent of U.S. consumers would like to buy a tablet that runs Microsoft’s operating system. That makes it the most desired OS by a significant margin, trailed by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

So that’s a little odd, right? Because on the Internet, everyone loves Apple. And also, because there is no Windows tablet.*

But the BCG study isn’t an anomaly. Forrester conducted a poll earlier this year and got the same message, with an even starker gap between Microsoft and everyone else: “Only 9% of consumers considering buying a tablet actively prefer an Android tablet — compared with 16% who prefer iOS and 46% who prefer Windows.”

When I wrote about it back in August, I found this so puzzling that I got Forrester researcher Sarah Rotman Epps on the phone to confirm that this wasn’t some weird typo. Nope, she told me.

And it’s sort of common sense: “When we survey consumers, it becomes very clear that Windows is still a very popular brand,” she said. Apple has sold tens of millions of iPads, but Microsoft has sold more than 400 million Windows 7 devices. What that says to me is that there’s a huge opportunity that Microsoft has left untapped so far.