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Tablets continue to put the squeeze on PC sales.With Windows 8 getting off to a slow start and continued interest in tablets, 2012 "ended on a sour note" for PC makers, says International Data Corporation (IDC). According to the latest data from IDC, global PC shipments in 2012 fell 3.7 percent compared to 2011. Going forward, IDC expects computer shipments to drop another 1.3 percent in 2013, which is either good or bad, depending on your perspective.
On the bright side. IDC is saying the rate of decline will be about a third of what it was last year. And regardless of how it compares, a 1.3 percent change is hardly cause for panic. In fact, IDC predicts total PC shipments (desktops and notebooks) will reach 345.8 million units in 2013. That's down from 350.4 million units in 2012, but still a lot of PCs.
At the same time, it's a little disappointing that Windows 8 has so far failed to reinvigorate the market the way Microsoft hoped it would. The "underwhelming reception to Windows 8," along with disappointing holiday sales and tight IT budgets all led to the decline.
"The PC market is still looking for updated models to gain traction and demonstrate sufficient appeal to drive growth in a very competitive market," said Loren Loverde, Program Vice President, Worldwide PC Trackers at IDC. "Growth in emerging regions has slowed considerably, and we continue to see constrained PC demand as buyers favor other devices for their mobility and convenience features. We still don't see tablets (with limited local storage, file system, lesser focus on traditional productivity, etc.) as functional competitors to PCs – but they are winning consumer dollars with mobility and consumer appeal nevertheless."
Incidentally, this is precisely where Windows 8 should be able to turn things around. The touch-friendly operating system encourages hybrid designs that function both as a powerful notebook and as a tablet, but PC makers have so far failed to really excite consumers with any must-have products.
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RUSENSITIVESWEETNESS
March 06, 2013 at 5:12am
Nor does Angry Birds.
It's nice that retarded people can have "computers," too!
Benjo
March 05, 2013 at 4:50pm
A 5 year old rig is still a capable machine. I'm typing this on an 11 year old laptop! Many of my friends and family has moved to laptops long ago, and they get replaced only when they sustain serious physical damage.
My sister-in-laws received Kindle Fires for Christmas. It meets most of their needs (Facebooking, playing music, Netflix, occasional e-mail and web browsing) and it frees up the family laptop.
The wife and I were tempted by 10 inch tablets not too long ago. For the price we could get a decent refurbished laptop!
AFDozerman
March 05, 2013 at 5:57pm
Apparently, you don't know what the terms "professional" and "power user" mean.
Benjo
March 05, 2013 at 7:44pm
The article reads that it includes all consumers, not just professionals and power users.
As for me, I overclocked Socket 7 procs and burning CDs at 4X back when they were computing's "sweet spot". Built a dual-proc Slot-1 rig, a nice Socket A rig, and a socket 940/dual core Opteron rig.
My last build was a budget socket 754 rig for dabbling in Linux. I still have that rig (running Debian GNU/Linux) while I have sold the others long ago. I've done freelance graphic design, T-shirt design and publications work and I have no need for a more powerful rig.
Warrior247
March 05, 2013 at 2:02pm
"Growth in emerging regions has slowed considerably, and we continue to see constrained PC demand as buyers favor other devices for their mobility and convenience features.'
"We still don't see tablets (with limited local storage, file system, lesser focus on traditional productivity, etc.) as functional competitors to PCs – but they are winning consumer dollars with mobility and consumer appeal nevertheless."
It's EVERYTHING that I've been saying the whole time. Denial can't replace reality. The PC is in decline because les and less people want one. They'd rather have a tablet or game console.
Renegade Knight
March 05, 2013 at 7:51pm
Everone already has a PC. They last longer before needing to be upgraded, and there are other things on the market now that make mobile computing a reality. Two reasons to hold off on upgrading your PC. You only need that to shrink the market.
Shalbatana
March 05, 2013 at 2:57pm
I don't think it's because people don't WANT a PC, it's because people already have "A" pc, but many don't have any kind of tablet (or have one but it doesn't do what they want yet).
"Should we upgrade our desktop this time around with our limited 'still-kind-of-in,-but-just-coming-out-of-a-recession-funds', or should we stretch its use another year or two and git one er dem dare new fangled thingamajibbies to go with it as a compliment?"
No one's lost interest in the desktop/laptop, they just want both and need to spread the wealth.
EDIT: okay this may not apply fully to "emerging markets" depending on how you define that market, but the case there is simple as well: If you can only have one thing, would you have something that you could use anywhere, or only when you're at home in one room? If you can only have one, the choice is obvious.
Hilarity
March 05, 2013 at 1:08pm
No surprise there. Chucked my big ass desktop for a mac mini. Only reason I didn't go for a tablet is because I prefer to browse on a 24" Ultrasharp than a tiny tablet. Only PC I have left is my gaming box, a left over mini-ITX HTPC and that's it. Everything else is gone. Gave up on encoding and heavy duty work a long time back too.
Next decade, the PC will will continue to shrink and shrink.
AFDozerman
March 05, 2013 at 12:42pm
With all of these companies switching their focus to mobile, you have to wonder what the choices will be in the near future for power users like us on this site. I like overclocking and switching out processors and shit, but apparently nobody else does.
Renegade Knight
March 05, 2013 at 7:53pm
That market isn't likely to shrink much. We like building our own. We like making things work better. The only thing that will shrink is the size of our machines. My next is looking to be ITX based.
pastorbob
March 05, 2013 at 11:46am
Well, I bought an 10.1" ASUS tablet myself a month ago to replace my Kindle. I wanted to have more capabilities than the Kindle in a portable device and due to poor eyesight need something larger than a smartphone of 7" tablet. The tablet is good for reading ebooks, checking email, light browsing and playing a couple of games.
But I do all of the real work on my desktops. With a three monitor setup at home and a two monitor setup at the office, a tablet doesn't compare to them. And I assemble a new build every couple of years so I am not giving up PC's. I suspect they will outlive me.
iheartpcs
March 05, 2013 at 10:47am
Too bad MS has single handily destroyed the PC market...at least as we know it now.
Just think, at some point an MS exec said "I know what we have been doing for 25 years has worked almost perfectly but lets do something now that can't possibly succeed!" And then another exec said "Hell ya!!"
pastorbob
March 05, 2013 at 11:17am
A 1.3% decrease in sales and the PC market has been "single-handily destroyed"? Are you serious?
harz3000gt
March 05, 2013 at 10:39am
You'd think that Microsoft would have learned from past blunders like Vista & ME, yet they continue to pull these stunts time and time again. Sticking to their guns isn't helping matters much either. It just shows consumers how disconnected from them MS is. I love PCs, and I love Windows 7, but trying to ram an OS down people's throats only works if you have a distinct monopoly, and people now have more functional alternatives than ever. Should gaming ever become as popular on Linux as it is on Windows, MS can pretty much kiss their market share goodbye.
