For the fifth quarter in a row, traditional desktops and laptop have seen a decline in sales globally. This mostly represents a shift in purchasing habits as opposed to an actual decline in the sales of electronics. Desktops have declined in sales since laptops became much more affordable and a decent alternative for light users who have no need for a powerful desktop. Now that tablets and smartphones are capable of providing the same experience to many users as a desktop or notebook, consumers are purchasing those devices which has lead to the perceived drop in sales. No matter what the various talking heads may claim the desktop is not dead, no tablet on the planet can play Crysis nor will it handle SPSS. Check out the comments at Slashdot for more entertaining thoughts on the supposed death of the desktop.
"Global personal computer (PC) sales have fallen for the fifth quarter in a row, making it the 'longest duration of decline' in history. Worldwide PC shipments totalled 76 million units in the second quarter, a 10.9% drop from a year earlier, according to research firm Gartner. PC sales have been hurt in recent years by the growing popularity of tablets. Gartner said the introduction of low-cost tablets had further hurt PC sales, especially in emerging economies. 'In emerging markets, inexpensive tablets have become the first computing device for many people, who at best are deferring the purchase of a PC,' said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, said in a statement."
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I will never understand how
I will never understand how anyone can replace a pc with a tablet. I know as I have tried to myself. Tablet’s offer a slow, small, miserable web surfing experience. I can do much better on the bottom of the line old pc I have sitting in my garage.
The desktop PC is not dead,
The desktop PC is not dead, But the desktop’s OS is very sick, and dying, as it is Infected with the deadly TIFKAM virus, this virus is spread by contact with certain early simian like CEOs, as they gyrate, and jump up and down, scraeming developers developers developers developers…!
these SEOs Simian Executive Officers, through profuse sweating and Marketbabble, can infect whole audiences, who in turn help to spread this, fatal to productivity, TIFKAM virus across the uninoculated hardware/software ecosystem!
PC sales are declining
PC sales are declining because hardware is good enough for most people. I know MANY people still using P4 3.0ghz computers, with no reason to upgrade. But tablets and notebooks are built with less quality and require replacement much sooner.
I believe this is very true.
I believe this is very true. I know people who have been using their computer for the past 6-7 years and although they have to re-install their OS’s to keep it running smoothly they are perfectly content with their desktops. Very reliable. It’s shocking to see an old Pentium D or Athlon X2 6400 when someone asks me to come out and fix their computer.
By the way, do these numbers take into consideration the hardware parts of DIY builders? Maybe it’s because I’m in my own little bubble here but I see a ton of people building computers these days.
That’s a point I have made
That’s a point I have made with my friends. The PC Gaming Hardware Market brought in about $23.6 Billion in 2012.
I’ve been telling people the
I’ve been telling people the same thing. I also a lot people at Micro Center buying parts to build PCs. The do-it-yourself market is probably a lot bigger than these analysts acknowledge.
I’m one of the very fortunate
I’m one of the very fortunate to live close to a Microcenter (not close enough to cause too much damage) but I rarely see people trying to buy full on already pre-made desktops. I usually see the 14-19 year old with a father over their shoulder or the 25-40 year old guy with a salesman crawling up his ass retrieving individual parts. And to be honest, I haven’t EVER purchased a pre-built computer and I have 5 custom desktop computers in my house. I gotta be making a dent somewhere in the desktop computer market.
getting ready to build
getting ready to build another rig myself
I just upgraded from a Athlon
I just upgraded from a Athlon X2 4400+ system with a Radeon HD4600, to an AMC FX system with a HD7850. Since I haven’t changed to newer games, the only real difference seems to be that I can open 10 – 15 tabs in Firefox without noticing.
If they used Linux they would
If they used Linux they would not even have to re-install their operating system to keep it running smoothly. I used to re-install windows xp before I made the switch to Linux.
nothing is really pushing
nothing is really pushing hardware except games, and pro level stuff.
i’ve you’ve got a decent 64 bit box with 4gig of ram………it will last you a pretty damn long time.
I can’t imagine there is ANY
I can’t imagine there is ANY way this is accurate. How do they determine “new PC desktop puchases”? Do they use newegg CPU sales along with dell, hp, toshiba, etc.?
I know many a people that are “getting into” pc gaming right now. People recycle old parts, make frankenstein machines, make use of donating old machines to friends when they upgrade and I have no clue how the custom market is attributed to this dataset at all.
The cost of a desktop PC is pretty much the lowest it has ever been this past year. APUs are helping dramatically to get it lower.
It’s extremely hard to believe this.
And yes, good point above, laptops are built to break in 1-2 years.
Chromebooks will become the
Chromebooks will become the new net book devices, I see some companys building ARM 64 based chromebooks with nvidia graphics GPUs, Samsung could do this with its ARM license, and the new Nvidia GPU IP license! A device with 6 or 8 individually powered on ARM 64 Cores plus Nivida graphics would be able to compete with a core i3 Haswell at a much lower cost, and with Nvidia’s intigrated graphics, it would not be hard to compete with Intel’s Iris offerings! Considering that many opensource Office products will be using OpenCL and GPUs to accelerate spreadsheets these devices would be great for business use! Cromebooks can run full Linux and with no M$ tax to pay will be low cost leaders! The only bright spot in the current PC slump, chromebooks could easily make the jump to dominate the low end laptop market, and push x86 out of the way in that market segment!
chromebooks are going
chromebooks are going nowhere.
a notebook form factor barely more usable then a tab.
most of the people i know that have purchased chromebooks did so only cause it was cheap and they could toss linux on it easy.. the didn’t even boot to chrome once.. unbox, install real OS, ok now ready.
chromebooks are a joke.
Chromebooks are not a joke
Chromebooks are not a joke precisely beacuse Linux can be installed on them, and provide a low cost WINTEL free solution, they will be, with Full Linux installed, the new Netbook, the netbook that never was, with M$ and Intel inside! ARM based ChromeBooks / ThisBook / ThatBook / WhateverBook, with low cost ARM processors and Full Linux, will finally provide the Intended Netbook solution, that M$ and Intel did not want, for Business[$$$] reasons, to compete with the WINTEL more costly and profitable low end laptops! There will be ChromeBook type systems in the Future, with the ability to run full Linux/FreeBSD/etc with 4 or 6 ARM 64 bit cores, (APU Like) with Nvidia graphics, that will compete with low end Intel CPUs, at a much lower ChromeBook like COST!
Chromebooks(ETC.) ARM based, with Full Linux instlled, is the New True Netbook!
P.S. You have to boot chrome to get into developer mode to install Linux AFAIK!
the $2000 a year cell bill
the $2000 a year cell bill killed the desktop !