Windows 7 to trigger notebook replacement sales

The launch of Windows 7 at the end of October is set to give a boost to the notebook market, according to a report from DRAM Exchange.

But although the release of Microsoft’s latest operating system will trigger replacement sales up to the end of this year, the real effect will be 2010. DRAM Exchange is predicting that growth of notebook sales is set to be between 15 to 17 percent.

That growth, it warns, will mainly be confined to the consumer market because enterprises will plot their usual conservative path until they’re sure of Windows 7’s stability.

DRAM Exchange believes that Windows 7 has far better performance than Vista, incorporating better memory utilization, power management and interface.

The average replacement cycle for corporate PCs is about four years, according to DRAM Exchange, and that should have happened last year, but was delayed because of the global recession.

It remains to be seen how quickly commercial customers will act to replace their ancient kit.