Port
Washington, N.Y. – Microsoft’s
Windows 7 is off to a strong start, according to The NPD Group, which said
sales of Windows 7 boxed software were 234 percent higher in the first week of launch
than those of its Vista predecessor.
Revenue growth
also soared 82 percent beyond Vista’s sales, although
it was tempered by pre-sale discounts and other promotions.
The average
selling price on Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for the week ending Oct. 24 was
$76. The average selling prices for the Windows 7 Pro Upgrade and Windows 7
Home Premium Family Pack User Upgrade was $147 and $149, respectively, said
NPD.
“Microsoft’s
program of early low-cost pre-sales, high visibility marketing and aggressive
deals helped make the Windows
7 software launch successful,” said Stephen Baker, NPD’s industry analysis
VP. “In a slow environment for packaged software Windows 7 brought a large
number of customers into the software aisles.”
PC hardware sales
also climbed during the week ending Oct. 24, but not as dramatically as during
the launch of Vista. NPD said PC sales growth was higher than any
week during the back-to-school third quarter, up 49 percent in units
year-over-year and up 95 percent over the week prior to launch. But, during the
Vista launch, PC sales grew at a higher rate of 68 percent over the prior year
and 170 percent over the week preceding the launch. So Windows PC sales were
down 6 percent compared with PC sales during the Vista launch week.
Baker noted
however that Vista launched during January, a stronger seasonal month for PC
sales.
Note: NPD’s
calculation of Windows 7 sales for the week of Oct. 18-24 included Windows 7
pre-sales.
