Dive Brief:

• Windows revenue will decline by 7.5% to $13.5 billion in 2016, according to new predictions from Gartner. 
• The revenue decline is partially caused by the uncertainty surrounding the global economy, foreign exchange rates and a decrease in IT spending, the analysis firm said. 
• Microsoft, however, says Windows 10 is growing at a record-setting pace, with 270 million active devices.

Dive Insight:

Despite the fact that Microsoft claims the opposite, the company saw declining sales across Windows products, said John-David Lovelock, Gartner’s chief forecaster, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Windows 10 also saw fewer sales than was expected. And even though Windows 10 has had wide adoption, free consumer downloads don't contribute to sales. 

Companies are also spending less on new computers and other devices, so there is lower demand for Windows. PC sales fell nearly 10% in the first quarter of 2016, Gartner said Monday.

The true measure of success for Windows 10 involves corporate adoption. Currently about three-quarters of Microsoft's enterprise customers are testing Windows 10, the company said. But some industry analysts said they don’t expect significant revenue growth from the enterprise version of Windows 10 until 2017.