Initial sales of Microsoft's Windows 7 software outperformed those of Vista's first few days on the U.S. market, according to the latest analysis from The NPD Group.
Windows 7 software unit sales in the U.S. were 234 percent higher than Vista's first few days of sales. A combination of early discounts on pre-sales and a lack of promotional activity for the Ultimate version resulted in dollar sales that were 82 percent higher than Vista.
"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, vice president of industry analysis at NPD.
"In a slow environment for packaged software Windows 7 brought a large number of customers into the software aisles."
While boxed software sales were up compared to the Vista launch, PC hardware sales ran into more of a challenge. PC sales growth was higher than any week during the high volume back-to-school third quarter.
Click to Read More
