Windows 7 beats Vista in first week sales by 234% – Windows PCs also up 49%
Two weeks after the launch of Windows 7 and I think we can safely say it went rather well. There was a successful build-up to the launch, a huge buzz created around the new operating system, and despite a few upgrade hiccups, very few technical difficulties for end users. And first week sales figures suggest consumers responded by opening their wallets.
Microsoft really couldn’t afford to mess Windows 7 up. It’s taken this long for the company to recover from the PR disaster that followed the launch of Vista, and a repeat performance with Windows 7 would have undone all the progress made over the last two and a half years. Luckily everything went well, and early U.S. sales figures make for impressive reading.
According to ComputerWorld, NPD’s weekly tracking service for sales compared figures for the Oct. 18 – Oct. 24 Windows 7 launch window with that of Vista’s launch in January 2007.
Boxed editions of Windows 7, that is either full or upgrade copies sold separately from hardware, sold 234 percent higher than Vista could manage in its first few days on sale. However, revenue from these sales was only up 82 percent from Vista, which shows the level of discounts Microsoft has offered for Windows 7 to do well straight out the gate.
Sales of Windows PCs jumped 49 percent year-on-year during the Windows 7 launch window, and 95 percent over the previous week. This is not as great a spike as seen during the Vista launch window, which saw a 68 percent jump year-on-year, and 170 percent over the preceding week. This could be down to Vista launching in January rather than October, but if so, January 2010 could be a bumper month for Microsoft as consumers catch up.
In terms of SKU success there’s no real surprises. Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade came out on top with an average selling price of $76. Windows 7 Pro Upgrade came in second with an average selling price of $147. And the Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack 3 User Upgrade came in third with an average selling price of $149.
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