Microsoft’s bet that people would come around to Windows 8 once they got to experience it on touch-based PCs hasn’t gone well so far. Computerworld reports that research firm IDC will “likely” drop its estimates on touch PC shipments from 17% to 18% of all laptops shipped in 2013 to between 10% and 15% of all laptops. IDC analyst Bob O’Donnell tells Computerworld that high prices on touch-based notebooks are big reason why touch-centric PCs haven’t taken off yet this year. “They’re generally in the $699 to $799 range,” he explained. “That’s hundreds more, sometimes as much as double the price, of non-touch notebooks.” What’s more, O’Donnell says that many consumers simply don’t see touch as an essential component of

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