Tablets Continue to Dent PC Sales

[Lewis]

Tablets Continue to Dent PC Sales


Modest growth returned to the computer industry in the second quarter following a dip earlier this year, although consumer appetite for tablets continued to dampen demand for desktop and laptop PCs.
Computer shipments grew 2.3 percent during the quarter to 85.2 million, the technology research firm Gartner said on Wednesday. Its rival, IDC, said in a similar report that shipments grew 2.6 percent to 84.4 million.
Neither firm includes tablet computer shipments in their quarterly tallies. Neither breaks out tablet shipments separately.
The results are a small bright spot for computer makers, which have tried to downplay the extent to which tablet computers, mostly the Apple iPad at this point, have diverted spending from the PC and laptop. But clearly the competition is affecting computer sales, the two reports concluded.
“Given the hype around media tablets such as the iPad, retailers were very conservative in placing orders for PCs,†Mikako Kitagawa, a Gartner analyst, said in a statement. “Instead, they wanted to secure space for media tablets. Some PC vendors had to lower their inventory through promotions, while others slimmed their product lines at retailers.â€
The IDC report, meanwhile, mentioned the shifting consumer appetite for tablets, particularly in the United States, as a drag on computer sales.
In addition to tablets, second quarter computer shipment totals faced a tough comparison from last year. Global shipments soared 12 percent during that quarter, according to IDC and, and such growth could not be sustained.
The United States market was weak over all, with shipments declining 4.2 percent, IDC said. The biggest reason was a drop in netbook shipments, the mini-laptops that sold strongly before the rise of tablets.
However, gains in computer shipments to Asia, Latin America and Japan offset those declines.
Gartner said that Hewlett-Packard retained its position as the top computer maker with 14.8 million computers shipped, a 3 percent increase. Dell moved up to second position, its first time in that spot since 2008, with 10.6 million computers shipped, up 3.3 percent.
Acer dropped from second to fourth in global shipments behind Lenovo. The company specializes in netbook computers, sales of which are declining rapidly.
In the United States, Hewlett-Packard led with 4.5 million computers shipped, down 1.2 percent. Dell followed with 3.8 million, down 9.8 percent. Apple rose from fifth to third position, with 1.8 million, up 8.5 percent, based on strong sales of its Mac and MacBook computers. It passed Acer and Toshiba.
Nytimes

 

[tim-from-pa]

As I mentioned on another thread, I imagine permanent storage and removable storage as chip devices which we are seeing now. No more hard drive, disk drives, CD/DVD drives, etc. And the microprocessor and RAM and chip sets for peripherals have been solid state for years already. That's the whole computer. Thus, who needs a bulky tower with screen and keyboard/mouse any longer when these portable devices can do the same thing, faster and without the viruses Microsoft has?

When we talk "PC" although it technically means "Personal Computer", it has been associated with Microsoft since they dominated the market. But their days are numbered. They have to get into the device market now, and more solid state computers. However, they absolutely, positively cannot do it on the OS philosophy they have now considering it will pick up a virus faster than your dropped hat will hit the floor. So, nobody is going to want their things any longer. People are finally starting to apprecite computing, even with just a pad, that really works for a change instead of having overpriced headaches. If I was a MacAfee, Norton or "mycleanpc" employee, I'd start looking for a new job now as Microsoft will no longer be tolerated by the public they've been dumping viruses on for years to make such guys rich. The boyish games (and boyish-looking CEO's) are over, and real serious, manly stuff is coming now.