Microsoft Windows 7 rollout will not affect Apple
Filed under: Computers, Software
According to a recent article on ComputerWorld experts believe that when Windows 7 officially launches later this month (October 22nd), it will not affect Apple’s Mac sales, you can see ComputerWorld’s article here.
This information is based on the impact that previous Windows versions have had on Apple’s trade, it seems that most of the time a new Windows OS release actually boosts Apple’s sales, here’s a statement one analyst made “In fact, [Microsoft's launches] almost act like a delayed accelerant on Mac sales.”
When Windows Vista was released it had a great impact on Mac sales, this is probably due to the extremely poor impact that Vista made, since then Vista has became a lot more stable, however for many converts its too little too late.
Personally I feel that Windows 7 may affect Apple more than what experts believe, the hype around Windows 7 in my opinion is greater than it ever was for Windows Vista, and the OS itself will in my opinion be adopted by a lot more companies then Vista was ever introduced too.
Do you think that Windows 7’s launch will have a detrimental impact on Apple’s Mac sales?
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The idea that it won’t affect Apple is silly, and the analyst here not only wrongs himself, he fails to understand just how the Apple market has changed.
For starters, paragraph two has the analyst stating that there were no negative correlations between releases of Windows versions and Mac sales. In fact, they seem to accelerate the sales of Macs in most cases.
Paragraph three is where he shows an exception, in that Win2000 provided a kick to Apple, as it is the only one in which the sales of Macs did not increase or stay steady.
Past that, the Apple computer market of nine years ago and the Apple computer market of today are drastically different. What once was a hobby brand with a strong, evangelical support base has become more of a mainstream brand with an oil-and-water support base. I believe it was in the neighborhood of 80% of Mac users who also own Windows machines. This shows to me that the formerly hardcore Apple fanbase has turned into mostly casual users of the products, and casual users are obviously much, much easier to pick off.
On a side note, if simply looking at some sales numbers for twenty minutes and releasing a report can get me work as an analyst, sign me up. I could do a much better job than this guy, as I think most technology news followers could.