I don't get how an os has anything to do with pc sales as stated in the article. do people really buy new laptops/pcs for a new os? but pc hardware is too good for its own good now. I still use my first gen core i5 with no intention of upgrading anytime soon. I think cmdr is still using a core2duo and he's playing games like bioshock infinite just fine. now imagine this power in the hands of the average consumer who doesn't even game on pc. overkill facebook machine.
Hardware performance has been overkill for a while now and the average user can probably get by with a Pentium 4. However, I think the real reason for the drop in sales is because people are choosing tablets over PCs.
Really ever since the Core 2 came out, PCs have been borderline overkill for what most people do with them. The only reason a modern PC would be slow is lack of an SSD. I think we've reached a point where people are only upgrading if they have a major hardware failure.
I would imagine businesses are putting off hardware upgrades too, which won't help. Maybe the new consoles will create a boost, as I'm sure they'll be a jump in power demands within games then. Then again, maybe the decline is the way things will carry on. I use my iPad and IPhone waaaaaay more than my PC nowadays, mainly for the convenience. Still use the PC for some gaming and work but that's it.
Same, I never use my laptop at home. Seems a pain to have to wait for it to boot when my phone is instantly there. Probably going to get the next iPad so that will mean it is used even more rarely.
But you guys build your own PC's. It doesn't matter about CPU & RAM, a Dell isn't built to run more than 3-4 years before power supply and cpu fans die. I think the average person just buys a new one when this happens. Unless a recession is causing an upsurge in PC repair business...
I have just shown an 85 year old how to pick up her mail on her new iPad. She said her grand kids advised she got one instead of a new PC. People just are not buying PC's now, they are not convenient. I didn't believe the whole tablets taking over from PC's thing a couple of years ago but now I do. The boss here was talking to me the other day about whether or not to get the fee earners windows tablets with keyboards rather than computers as we are due a refresh. Secretaries will still get desktops but for fee earners who do little typing and just need it for dictation, checking client accounts and entering time tablets are perfect. The added bonus is that they can just pick them up and take them into meetings etc.
I remember trying to convince people on ye olde PVCF that the revolutionary feature of the iPhone was that it could run a full OS with applications and was essentially a new form of personal computer and the response was basically "whut?shutthef*ckup!". :
Maybe people are holding out for the consoles and specs so they have an idea of what requirements they'll need for the new games. Or maybe not.
Calling it new form of PC is still a stretch. The two are similar but smart phones are still primarily used as data consumption devices which makes them 1/2 a PC at best. People will still need PCs for data entry and real work. However, they may no longer want a second or third PC in the house if they always have a smart phone in their pocket to check facebook and twitter.
This is really a multifaceted issue: 1. PCs have become too powerful for their own good and no longer need to be regularly upgraded. The days where you had to buy a new PC every 2-3 years are ancient history. 2. Windows 8 sucks balls, while Windows 7 is arguably the best OS MS has ever released. 3. Mobile devices are cannibalizing PC sales 4. PC manufacturers are heavily pushing ultrabooks, but it's not a form factor consumers seem to care much about. People will take an iPad over an ultrabook for their ultraportable computing device every time.
I agree with bfun, it's a separation of the consumers from the creators. Sure, some media is still above what tablets can achieve, but that will surely change over time. New consoles will definitely do a lot to pull core gaming back (and possibly casual). This will probably cause somewhat of a resurgence in gaming PC sales, if not right away then around a year after the new console releases.
You're confusing potential use with actual use. There's a significant percentage of both consumer and business buyers that are very well served by the functionality and convenience of "post-PC" devices. In other words, it doesn't matter if the traditional PC offers functions that they don't actually need.
I've yet to see anyone in the business world actually use a smart phone like a consumer would. Mostly I see them being used as regular phones with Palm Pilot features. Granted I only see one small slice of the pie but in my experience people want apps and businesses don't. Apps are the features they don't need. It's the same situation with tablets except without the phone feature they're almost pointless. When the iPad first became popular many of the sales people I work with tried to use them but they also carried laptops as well. Now all I see are laptops. No more tablets. The business market is still solidly in the PC world. It's the consumer market that's changing.
What are they using the laptops for if they don't need applications? I'm not saying that PCs are being abandoned by the business world, but rather that there are plenty of business functions and jobs that are well served by non-traditional devices. That's part of what contributes to the sales decline for PCs. I doubt the business growth curve is following the same path that it was prior to the smartphone/tablet explosion. There is a connection.
Our Fee earners could do everything they need to do on a Windows tablet that they do on a PC which is why the boss decided to consider them. To be honest the secretaries probably could too but it is better for them to have bigger screens for all the typing they do and so they may as well stay with desktops. Our Dell area chap came in a couple of weeks ago and showed me a Latitude tablet which comes with full blown Windows and removable batteries. The only issue would be testing our stuff with Windows 8 which I haven't even bothered to try yet.
I should clarify. The majority of apps on mobile devices don't have any real type of support or security and there are no portals to the companies that make them. The mobile devices themselves seem to lack any kind of security controls and can't limit the actions of the apps or even the users. The Blackberry 10 might be an exception because it makes an attempt to isolate apps from core business functions. I'm working on a mobility pilot that will run virtual Windows desktops on an iPad. I don't see the point though now that there are real windows tablets on the market. I'd love to get my hands on one of those.