Ballmer downplays Vista sales

Steve Ballmer has played down the hype surounding Vista sales saying some analysts have taken an overly optimistic view.

Ballmer said most sales of Vista were reliant on people buying new PCs and that the short-lived surge in PC sales was unlikely to be long-lived.

However, boxed copies of Vista did less well. Vista sold 59 per cent less copies in its first week in the US than XP did on its debut.

Microsoft shares fell almost 2.5 per cent on the news.