The latest survey by the global market research firm TrendForce finds retailers’ stock up demand for new products sustained the notebook shipments this second quarter. However, the excessively high inventory level in the European retail channels and the slow inventory clearance efforts led to the lower-than-expected shipment result of 38.86 million units, or just a 1.1% growth versus the first quarter.
Microsoft will launch Windows 10 globally on July 29. The latest version, which combines the strengths of its predecessors, is free to upgrade for users of genuine Windows 7 and 8. According to DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, the PC replacement demand generated by Windows 10 will be noticeably weaker than the vendors’ initial expectations. Besides being free for users of earlier Windows, the latest Windows does not require specific hardware upgrades.