Desktop Sales Overtake Netbooks, Win7 Credited: Report

Despite the rising popularity of smartphones, netbooks, and smaller notebooks, desktop PCs have made a notable resurgence in recent months. According to a recent report, sales of the units were up an impressive 30 per cent in February, with much of the credit touting Microsoft's new operating system (OS), Windows 7.

Desktop sales for February 2010 climbed 30 per cent in units and 33 per cent in dollars over the same month last year, says a recent report from industry analysts NPD Group. It's the third time in the last four months that revenue for desktop computers was not only up, but actually faster-growing than notebooks. Overall, desktop sales have been on the increase for the last five months. (Source: eweek.com)

Interestingly enough, the average selling price of desktop computers climbed 3 per cent since February 2009 to a total of $670, $68 higher than the average selling price of netbooks and notebooks.

Windows 7 Sales Fuel Desktop Sales by 15%

One of the major factors behind the surprisingly fast growth of desktops is the critical popularity of Windows 7. Microsoft's latest operating system helped fuel desktop sales hikes of 15 per cent in units and 8 per cent in dollars since its release on October 22, 2009.

In fact, it's safe to say the release of Windows 7 has been a game-changer for the desktop PC market: prior to October, desktop sales had been on the decline for 21 of the previous 22 months.

"Desktops have been the surprise consumer technology growth category of 2010," noted Stephen Baker, NPD Group's vice president of industry analysis. "Windows 7 has been propelling the PC side of the market where desktop ASPs have been higher than notebook/netbook ASPs in three of the last four months."

Apple, Market Recovery Also Deserve Credit

Still, it's not just Windows 7 helping to revive those big and bulky desktops. Apple has also done its share with the sleek and trendy iMac. As the recession's force begins to taper off, it's likely these high-priced systems will only grow in popularity. "Desktop growth has come from both PCs and Macs," said Baker. "We are... seeing tremendous growth numbers from the iMac after a few lackluster quarters from Apple." (Source: cbronline.com)