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Windows 7 boosts PC sales by 40%

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On November 3, 2009, 4:28 PM

As many predicted, the debut of Windows 7 has prompted a surge in PC sales -- for now, at least. During the first week of general availability, Windows 7 boosted computer sales by some 40% year-over-year, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katheryn Huberty.

The figure is based on NPD sales data, and is partially skewed by consumers holding off purchases. During the two weeks leading up to Windows 7's launch, sales fell 29% and 2% compared to 2008. While computer sales have rebounded (and then some) from that stint, many people -- including Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer -- don't expect Windows 7 to have a long term impact on PC sales.

Huberty also dismissed concerns that computer vendors over-shipped ahead of the Windows 7 launch by showing that PC inventory levels are still below average. Did you, or anyone you know, purchase a new computer during the Windows 7 launch week?

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  1. It's pc sales rise is expected because anyone who has already paid for a vista license wouldn't pay another $200+ for an upgrade to win 7 .The price of a win 7 upgrade is way too high and would only make sense if win 7 hadn't got so many similarities to vista and really offered something new (and in many peoples opinion it doesn't!)

  2. I diddn't buy a computer on launch week, but I will be buying a computer very soon..probably within 2-3 weeks. I'll be buying a laptop, desktops are homebuild all the way. I'm basically looking for a great deal on a laptop with a geforce 260. So far..."cringe" best buy seems to have the best deals, right now i'm looking at the Asus G60VX-RBBX05 for $999.99, if anyone knows of better deals Please let me know!!

  3. No surprise here

  4. Deso said:

    I'm actually surprised it haven't sold better then that because the only thing I heard about the windows 7 from people are ravings on how much they like it... literally everyone in all my computer classes likes it. Windows 7 will totaly replace vista and porblem finaly give a reason for people to drop their long ties with xp

    I'd say it's doing pretty well. The family pack version is completely sold out in my area. I ended up ordering it in store to be shipped. A couple of BestBuy stores in NY/NJ area were sold out during this weekend of ALL upgrade versions of the system. I, honestly, have never seen anything like it with an operating system.

  5. I purchased a laptop (my first, if you tech folks can believe that!) a couple of weeks ago. Windows 7 is built in. I didn't want to do the deal where the computer comes with a free upgrade to W7. (Why do that when the best way to use W7 is after a clean install? You'd have to backup everything you did/used with Vista first. Not worth the trouble for me.)

    I've seen some *really* good sales on computers w/W7 built in. (Best Buy has some of the best deals, FWIW. No, I'm not affiliated with the company, and I did not purchase my laptop from them. Saw a truly wonderful deal after I had already bought my laptop. *sigh*) I'm encouraged by the people here who say W7 is a great OS. I'm looking forward to it! =)

  6. ET3D said:

    "Did you, or anyone you know, purchase a new computer during the Windows 7 launch week?"

    No, though I'm sure some people did that incidentally, and I might have met some of them at some point in the past. I'm sure that many people held off buying a PC in order to get one with Windows 7.

    Most people i know have already bought a computer (i bought a laptop in the first days of January this year) or are just too dirt poor to buy an new computer. I personally will use win7 for free because i'm an student and if i want i can get it from where i work too. Hopefully by the end of summer 2010 i'll also buy a new PC (or a car - it depends on many things).

  7. Now hopefully the computers with Vista OEMs will be cheaper than the ones with Win7 so as to clear their stocks. I just bought laptop on September so I am entitled to a free copy of Win 7 but the shipping cost is almost the price of the student version of Win 7.

  8. Heh, 40%? And some say we're in a crisis... :P

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