Windows 7 sales outshine Vista
Judging by its initial sales, Windows 7 is certainly proving more popular than Vista.
Microsoft sold 234 percent more boxed editions of Windows 7 than it did Vista in the initial releases of both products, according to research released Thursday by NPD Group.
In actual dollars, Windows 7 has also been more successful than Vista. However, early discounts on pre-sales copies and a lack of a promotional boost behind Windows 7 Ultimate led to revenues only 82 percent greater than those of Vista.
"Ultimate was a much bigger part of what Microsoft did with Vista, whereas this time I think they not only kept the price very high, but really kept the focus on the Premium product and the Premium three-pack," explained the author of the report, NPD's Stephen Baker, to CNET News. "Most of the promotional fire that they've put out there has been focused on those, for example, 'Buy a computer, get a $50 copy of Home Premium.' The pre-sales were all pretty much focused on Home Premium."
The numbers provided by NPD include both the initial sales of Windows 7 following its release on October 22 and pre-sales data from the discount program that Microsoft launched in July.
NPD declined to release actual sales figures for Windows 7, but the percentages help tell the story.
Web statistics firm Net Applications also found early adoption of Windows 7 to be strong.
(Credit:
NPD Group)
Sales of PC hardware running the new OS didn't fare quite as well. Though growth in PC sales for the Windows 7 launch was at its highest level for the entire third quarter, it wasn't as strong as during the Vista launch, showing a 6 percent decrease from Vista's initial days.
A mixture of different factors affected the sales of Windows 7 PCs, notes Baker. Vista was launched in January, which traditionally offers a better sales environment than October. Also, the new OS was hurt by sales of PCs with older operating systems, which made up 20 percent of all sales during Windows 7 launch week. In contrast, PCs with older operating systems made up just 6 percent of all sales when Vista hit the market.
Baker doesn't think the current recession had a bearing on the lower PC sales for Windows 7's launch. "We've seen pretty strong sales growth on computers all year regardless of the recession," he said. "People have been buying more units of PCs all year than they had in 2008. At least from a unit perspective, we haven't really seen much impact on the consumer PC market from the recession."
Lance Whitney wears a few different technology hats--journalist, Web developer, and software trainer. He's a contributing editor for Microsoft TechNet Magazine and writes for other computer publications and Web sites. You can follow Lance on Twitter at @lancewhit. Lance is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and he is not an employee of CNET. 
Argue ad infinitum about how yours is prettier faster stabler better suited to <insert bias here> but use what you want and realize that you made a good choice.
Competition's good for the market, and all modern OSs can help you get your work done.
If you don't wanna see flame wars.. find another place to do your reading!
And, if you're trying to incite such comments... find another place to do your reading!
Explaining that one is easy: It's an attempt to present oneself as being superior to the 'dirty' debates of which OS/company/whatever is better, while at the same time participating in it.
Actually I take the time to make statements like this because I want to make sure I give you an opportunity to speak. As for the superiority thing... yeah, that works for me.
So IOW, all the growth is coming not from ordinary folks looking to purchase a new machine, but from the Windows enthusiast community, mixed with folks who are eager to dump Vista (or perhaps have been waiting to upgrade XP, meaning that there's a two-year pent-up demand among such folks...)
I was thinking of it this way...
Folks who aren't in any hurry to buy a new computer, or bought one recently (12-18 months ago) with Vista are likely more eager to buy an upgrade/retail package than they would be to buy a whole new computer.
I also have Linux on my machine, but since I am not that good with the command prompt language I tend to stick with Windows because, for me at least, it seems easier.
But W7 just seems that much better.
I'm happy, sorry to the flamers about that - wish I could whine and gripe, but I cant.
Been on both sides of that coin...
well any of those little annoyances could usually be fixed by adjusting settings manually. Other stuff was fixed in service packs. Which is why I waited till the spring to get it(also because I was waiting for the Phenom II). Driver issues have not been an issue for me so I lucked out. Although I don't have any 10 year old peripherals so that had a bit to do with it. I have had a good experience with Vista, but I am self sufficient in fixing those minor things and most people are not. That is probably why I am happy with it.
Have fun with Windows 7. After my Vista Laptop went south on me, I revived my XP laptop and guess what? It booted up faster and runs faster than my Vista laptop ever did. I'm not doing a wipe and install of Windows 7 because I have a working laptop that doesn't need to be replaced. Microsoft can have your money. I'm saving mine for an iPhone. LOL!!!!
Huh? Retail sales of ANYTHING in January stink. Most stores could almost shut their doors for the entire month and not miss anything.
October is a little early for Christmas shopping, but Christmas sales are already starting to trickle in. Given how long people have been waiting for an upgrade to Vista, most people expected hardware sales to be through the roof on Vista's release.
Huh? Retail sales of ANYTHING in January stink. Most stores could almost shut their doors for the entire month and not miss anything.
October is a little early for Christmas shopping, but Christmas sales are already starting to trickle in. Given how long people have been waiting for an upgrade to Vista, most people expected hardware sales to be through the roof on Vista's release.
Also, I would like to see a more in-depth analysis on the report that PC sales did not surge with the uptick in Windows 7 sales.
- by bomber6400 November 10, 2009 9:36 PM PST
- The XPS documents are so much better than Adobe PDF's, it will be the standard for XML solutions, Microsoft got it right on this one.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(32 Comments)