Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509080087
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Sales of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95 fell sharply in stores during its second week of availability, analysts and executives said Thursday.
But demand continues to outrun any previous software program, despite the decline from its debut in a global publicity blitz that filled computer stores with shoppers at midnight.
``No one expected to have that type of business continue,'' said Larry Mondry, executive vice president of merchandising for Comp-USA, one of the nation's largest computer retailers. ``You wish it would, but know it couldn't.''
Through retailers, Microsoft sold $30 million worth of Windows 95 on its first day, Aug. 24, according to PC Data, a software market research firm in Reston, Va. That fell to $7 million by the following Sunday, rose again last week and fell to $5.5 million last Sunday.
At roughly $85 per copy, the volume of sales in stores through the first 11 days reached 1.63 million copies, said Ann Stephens, president of PC Data.
``I am being a little conservative,'' she said. ``But for August, a very large chunk of total software sales is going to be Windows 95.''
Last week, Microsoft said it sold 1 million copies through retailers on the first four days. PC Data estimated about 900,000 copies in that same period.
Microsoft did not have new figures this week and a spokeswoman said it would not regularly disclose sales for Windows 95, which is the first major update in five years to the main program that runs a personal computer. Windows is used on eight out of 10 PCs, more than 100 million worldwide.
Several hundred thousand more copies of Windows 95 have been installed on personal computers sold since Aug. 24 and millions more are in PCs now in the hands of distributors.
In one indication of a slowdown in the Windows 95 frenzy, Microsoft said phone calls from people needing help installing or using the new software were down sharply.
With the exception of some call spikes at night, there was virtually no wait to reach a technician during Labor Day weekend. Busy signals and waits of up to an hour were common the previous weekend.
``We still are experiencing some spikes in the after hours,'' said Deborah Willingham, vice president-support at Microsoft. ``For instance, we were surprised by spikes between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Pacific time on Saturday and Sunday nights. We're continuing to adjust our staff to meet these spikes.''
There are far more callers with questions about installing the software than about running it, she said. That raises the prospect, if peak buying has occurred, the worst crush of calls may be finished for Microsoft.
But Willingham said, ``Right now I'm hesitant to celebrate.''
by CNB