Next week, Microsoft is supposed to be in the spotlight with the launch of Windows 7, but the way it's shaping up Apple could steal the limelight. With Microsoft's Oct. 22 Windows 7 launch only days a way, sales of Apple Macs are by far outshining those of Windows PCs, according to two leading analyst firms.
In spite of a bleak economy, overall PC sales in the United States are actually finally starting to bounce back a bit, stepping up 2.5 percent between September 2008 and September 2009, according to Gartner. IDC came up with a slightly higher number of 3.9 percent. But sales of Apple Macs are up even higher, to the tune of 6.8 percent, according to Gartner. IDC paints a rosier picture, reporting Apple sales up 11.8 percent. The analysts are baffled as to why.
[ Is your PC Windows 7-ready? Find out with InfoWorld's no-cost OfficeBench 7 and Windows Sentinel PC-monitoring tools. | Read the InfoWorld editors' Windows 7 Deep Dive 21-page PDF report to prepare for the new Microsoft OS, and get Windows 7 deployment advice for IT admins from InfoWorld's J. Peter Bruzzese. ]
But apparently, Apple plans to take full advantage of its resurgent status with a marketing campaign set to coincide with the official release of Winows 7. According to Apple Insider, the upcoming blitz will harp on the difficult upgrade process from Windows XP to 7, while also portraying Macs as less prone to viruses.
It wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone if Microsoft anticipated Apple's attack. After all, at the end of September, Microsoft gave a green light to small PC makers to start selling Windows 7 PCs on October 13. Hey, that was two days ago.
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