Move over notebooks – Windows 7 is on the way. So says market intelligence provider DRAMeXchange, which foresees a “notebook computer replacement effect” following the rollout of Windows 7 this month.
DRAMeXchange reports Windows 7 as having comparably better performance than Vista in certain instances, such as memory utilisation, battery power management and a user-friendly preview workshop.
Come back, customers
Essentially, Microsoft is not only trying to woo back Vista-disenchanted customers, but increase demand and market size for “multi-touch” panels and applications – Windows 7 can be paired with a touch-sensitive PC and users won’t always need a keyboard or mouse.
Therefore, the design concept of Windows7 could be a sign for the technology industry, which is to think from the consumer’s point of view and about what they need and don’t need.
DRAMeXchange predicts the “notebook-replacement effect” to occur particularly in the second quarter of 2010, after the 2009 year-end/holiday season and since mainstream customers tend to be more conservative toward first-adopting models.
However, notebooks still have the edge in terms of growth in projected figures: the growth in desktop computers in 2010 is forecast to be 2-3pc, while notebooks are expected to increase by 15-17pc in terms of Year on Year basis.
PC replacement rate
In the commercial market, corporate PCs are replaced every four years, on average. Since 2000, corporate replacement has happened in 2000 and 2004, but the one which should have happened in 2008 was postponed courtesy of the global financial crisis.
DRAMeXchange expects corporate replacement for Windows 7 will be more stimulated when more application software is developed and hardware and software compatibility issues are lessened, since corporate PC users are demanding more regarding stability and compatibility.
