Data Show Steep Decline in PC Shipments

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/t...p-decline-in-pc-shipments.html?src=twrhp&_r=0

 

No big surprise there. Mobile is where it's at for general tasks, at both home and work. Mobile makes it much easier for employers to keep track of and contact their workforce as well. Android, even with its flaws and the lack of vendor profits due to Google grabbing 90+ percent of profit, is a top choice for said vendors, app developers and users simply because Android is free.

PC buying is slow and will remain so from here on out I believe, but until at least tablets have much more power and storage, they won't replace PCs. The one thing that can hurt mobile is data consumption. If you don't have a hell of a good data plan (you can read that as expensive as hell as well), carrier charges can murder you. I fear more for console and PC gaming than I do the actual PC industry. Gaming has made a huge shift over to small, simple and inexpensive games that don't hunger for new hardware every year. These games cost about the same as a fast food meal and are incredibly easy to play a round or two and hop right off. I really do think we're approaching the end of the Call of Duty-type gaming for all but the most hardcore of gamers.

 

I want to buy a PC but cannot as all new PCs come with Win 8 pre-installed. Even if I manually install Win 7 on it, a rep at Dell told me that Dell will not support that PC without Win 8 i.e all drivers available on the Dell page will be for Win 8 only. This is the only reason why I am holding off on buying a PC, otherwise I would have bought one already. I am sure there are many people out there like me, waiting for a solution to this situation.

 

I'm not surprised. The economy in the United States sucks right now!

 

I think this is the biggest reason why PC sales are down... Win 8. Nobody wants it.

 

It's pretty simple, really. We have a recessed economy for one thing, but more importantly is the fact that Windows 8 stinks...

 

Can't comment on the article in the link as all I get is a login window for the NY Times!

However, on the subject of declining PC sales – there was an interesting aspect contained in another report by market research firm IDC.
(see under 'more key points')

''Unlike the consumer PC market, the professional PC market has seen growth, driven by continuing PC refreshes. The professional market makes up about half of all shipments''

http://www.zdnet.com/idc-global-pc-shipments-plunge-in-worst-drop-in-a-generation-7000013839/

 

Well, not everyone. We are running several computers with Win8. Best OS we've used and I used to think Win7 was the best.

 

Who needs Dell;
who needs any vendor who holds a buyer hostage to the most important component of all- the operating system.

-You can build your own.
-If you're not comfortable with byo, a number of companies will custom build (within limits) for you.
-You can buy a pre-owned or off-lease PC with W-7 or XP installed. Many have a warranty. Dell is one place to find off-lease PCs.
-On occasion, schools or businesses sell PCs which are up for replacement.
A few telephone or e-mail inquiries might locate a great deal.

Except for a custom build you probably won't find exactly what you're looking for, but it's very possible you can get close. The dollar savings are real and so is the great feeling that you weren't forced to accept someone else's requirements.

 

Lenovo is selling laptops with Windows 7. Lenovo is now the biggest PC manufacturer (OEM) in the world.

 

Trying to define what a PC is and isn't is just avoiding the issue and the article reads more like something a marketing department would issue to avoid the whole "product is failing" discussion. Windows 8 is failing for a lot of reasons, and one issue I think is taking a backseat to others. Windows 8 arrived at a time when the hardware just was not there. There weren't 22 inch touch screens all over Best Buy shelves, there were barely any non-tablet/phone touch devices period on those shelves. It hasn't improved all that much. Sure, there are much more Windows 8 machines than there were upon release, but that's more due to hardware vendors scrambling to get them out...and then they sit on those same shelves and just barely move. I've seen more "How do I revert back to my old OS" questions than I have any Windows 8 questions.

MS basically pushed a market into existence that wasn't really there before (Windows 8 desktops), and arrived way too late to a market already well saturated (tablets). It hasn't boded well, and it likely won't.

 

I agree with you, a vendor should not hold a buyer hostage, but when you are purchasing a laptop then there are few choices available. You can custom build a desktop, but with a laptop you are still dependent on one of the vendors. One of the problems with laptops is that most of the components are integrated in the motherboard, so lets suppose you are unable to get the sound card driver for a new OS from the manufacturer, then you are stuck with your old OS.

My current laptop is Dell XPS M1530. It came with Vista preinstalled. It also came with Sigmatel/IDT sound chip. Sigmatel, now IDT, does not release drivers to public, so all buyers of this model are dependent on Dell to provide them with drivers for their sound chip. Dell only supports Vista on this model and refuses to provide Win 7 drivers to customers, instead telling them to upgrade to one of their newer Win 7 equipped laptops. Now had it not been for a good Samaritan who took the drivers from one of Dells newer laptops, containing a slightly different version of the IDT chip, and custom built a driver for XPS M1530, I would have been stuck with Vista, as the Vista drivers for this sound chip did not function on Windows 7.

Therefore I am very careful now to purchase only that Laptop, whose components are supported by their manufacturers directly. But still if even one of the modules in the laptop is from Dell, like the Dell bluetooth or Dell's network card, you are stuck with Dell for the drivers.

I know this is not the way to do business, but there are no good options for laptop buyers out there.

 

I had looked at Lenove a few months back but their specs did not appeal to me. If Lenovo wants to compete in US with Dell and HP, they really need to up there specs for their laptops. I seem to recall, a few months ago, they were still offering 768p screens on most of their laptops. Other specs were also just average.

 

MS should just give people this choice, those who want Win 8 should get it and those who do not want a touch OS should not be forced to use it. All the classes in Marketing that I have taken always say that do research on what consumers want and then design a product to fit consumers needs. Folks at MS probably think they are above such petty marketing 101's, they decided to design a product to their specifications, and just expected consumers to either use it or go to hell.

MS is very lucky that they have a monopoly on the PC market and most people are so used to their OS that they did not want to switch to another vendor's OS, otherwise with a stunt like this, MS surely would have gone down the drain.

 

There are lots of Windows 7 PCs on special/clearance for people who just use them for the standard browsing/office/light gaming.

I had my custom built (Metabox) and paid extra for Windows 7 rather than buying a Windows 8 licence.

 

I'm not planning to buy another computer until they get this secure boot BS straightened out, and I can easily install Linux or whatever.

 

Well I love Windows 8, and I got it with my new machine. At first I was a bit wary as many people complained about its new interface and all sorts of things but now I think it is a great OS.

I do understand Raza007's point though, customers should be able to choose at least between Windows 7 and 8. Unfortunately a real competitor to MS hasn't yet materialized and alternatives are limited.

I also think that PC sales are down because of the financial crisis and the advent of very sophisticated smartphones and tablets.