As Microsoft will allow free upgrades of Windows 7 and Windows 8 to Windows 10, which has relatively low hardware requirements, PC replacement demand due to the launch of the new operating system (OS) is unlikely to surge immediately and instead may emerge slowly and gradually, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

Since Windows 10 has several new features such as Cortana and facial identification, users who download the OS to try it out are likely to need an upgrade to heir hardware at a later time in order to gain better usage experience.

However, most notebook ODMs are still skeptical about Windows 10 being able to trigger strong replacement trend. They expect notebook shipments to remain weak in July, but will pick up in both August and September. However, whether the growth is able to maintain its momentum after October will depend on demand for Windows 10.