Windows 7 Could Spur Mac Sales Instead

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A new Windows is coming! Time to buy a Mac?

Apple products' popularity has grown at an impressive rate over the last few years. Be it more MacBooks than ever popping up at Starbucks or the number of iPhones you're noticing that people are touching while out and about, Apple is making headway.

For the computer market, some of that is believed to be because Windows Vista had such negative feelings associated with it, but Windows 7 hopes to fix all of that and more. Early reviews bill Windows 7 as a wonderful operating system, so will this be PC's time to win some share back? If history is any indicator, then no. Apple will sell even more Macs thanks to the release of Windows 7.

According to data collected by Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall, it appears that the release of a new Windows version is positively correlated with sales of Mac computers.

"We have concluded that no negative correlation exists on Apple's (AAPL) hardware sales when Microsoft launches a new OS. Ironically, we believe new OS launches from MSFT may have even acted as a 'delayed accelerant' to AAPL's computing sales," Marshall wrote, according to a blog on Fortune.

There's no real reason behind why a new PC technology would spur sales of Apple computers, but perhaps the big wave of new-computer-buying spirit somehow spreads over to those who are considering getting a new Mac.

Any other theories?

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
98 Comments Comment from the forums
  • doc70
    I have a theory: I smell a Mac fan in tom's staff...
    Reply
  • XD_dued
    Sounds like coincidence to me...
    Reply
  • waikano
    BootCamp
    Reply
  • adillhoff
    The release of Windows 7 definitely makes me want to overpay on mediocre hardware.
    Reply
  • timberwolf1128
    doc70I have a theory: I smell a Mac fan in tom's staff...
    Indeed. If you look at his recent articles they are all Apple is the greatest thing since sliced bread and windows is Satan.
    Reply
  • cookoy
    windows launch coinciding near holiday seasons when people tend to buy things?
    ever wonder why your boat rises everytime there's high tide?
    Reply
  • xaira
    $300 netbook or $1000 mac, which one will i pic?
    Reply
  • the_one111
    I think MS should simply make Win7 detect bootcamp somehow and then have the OS start randomly opening text boxes cursing the user.

    But that's just my opinion.
    Reply
  • iamthewalrus528
    "We have concluded that no negative correlation exists on Apple's (AAPL) hardware sales when Microsoft launches a new OS. Ironically, we believe new OS launches from MSFT may have even acted as a 'delayed accelerant' to AAPL's computing sales,"

    If this is from previous releases, what data are we debating? If they are saying Vista was a delayed accelerant...it's because we all know Vista didn't do very well in the market place and back in XP release days, Apple was much less of a competitor than it is today so whatever data that is from 2001ish is irrelevant. To then place this bit of data as a reason Windows 7, which obviously isn't getting the same reviews as Vista, would make it "time to buy a Mac" asinine. Plus, a simple positive correlation of past Microsoft OS releases is a horrible determinate for Win 7's possible effect on Mac sales. I'm not defending Microsoft here as it could really go either way as to what happens to Apple's sales in the coming months, I'm just flagging Marcus' article as bogus. What is the point of this article if the data is seemingly pulled out of nowhere and hardly relevant? Please refrain from posting "news" articles unless something news-worthy happens instead of just opinions, thanks.
    Reply
  • tayb
    God forbid there be a Mac fan to write articles at tomshardware. We know that this is tomshardwarewindowsonly.com and Apple isn't to be talked about.
    Reply