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PC demand unaffected by Windows 7 sales |
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Written by Nick Farrell
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Monday, 09 November 2009 09:00 |
Ballmer is no great white hope
Hopes that interest in Windows 7 might have sparked an
increase in sales of hardware are proving bogus.
DigiTimes reports that demand for PCs and hardware did not suddenly become stronger after
the launch of Windows 7 in late October. Now some PC vendors do not expect to see a Windows 7 halo
effect this year as most Windows Vista users not needing to replace their PCs
in order to upgrade to Windows 7.
Other users are waiting for Microsoft to release Windows
7's first service pack, according to sources at PC vendors. One of the biggest mirages is proving to be Windows 7's
touchscreen capabilities are currently unable to provide significant value in
terms of usage on notebooks and netbooks.
Tablet PCs have also not seen any dramatic growth since
the launch of the software, leaving large-size all-in-one PCs as the only PC
segment to benefit from the technology so far. However the all-in-one PC segment is expected to only
reach 5 per cent of the PC market in 2009 and 9 per cent in 2010 so vendors are
likely to see limited sales growth.
As a result of all this, notebook vendors are also facing
surplus inventory as they placed a lot of Windows 7-based notebook orders in
the third quarter hoping to satisfy demand during the peak season.
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