Hopes that interest in Windows 7 might have sparked an increase in sales of hardware are proving bogus.

DigiTimes reports that demand for PCs and hardware did not suddenly become stronger after the launch of Windows 7 in late October. Now some PC vendors do not expect to see a Windows 7 halo effect this year as most Windows Vista users not needing to replace their PCs in order to upgrade to Windows 7.

Other users are waiting for Microsoft to release Windows 7's first service pack, according to sources at PC vendors. One of the biggest mirages is proving to be Windows 7's touchscreen capabilities are currently unable to provide significant value in terms of usage on notebooks and netbooks.

Tablet PCs have also not seen any dramatic growth since the launch of the software, leaving large-size all-in-one PCs as the only PC segment to benefit from the technology so far. However the all-in-one PC segment is expected to only reach 5 per cent of the PC market in 2009 and 9 per cent in 2010 so vendors are likely to see limited sales growth.

As a result of all this, notebook vendors are also facing surplus inventory as they placed a lot of Windows 7-based notebook orders in the third quarter hoping to satisfy demand during the peak season.