PC sales are dropping massively? Are we concerned?

[xxx_skywalker_xxx]

Just saw this on the news http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25196031

 

My question is are we concerned by this? Will the PC be a dinosaur in the future?

 

Please discuss.......................

 

D

[Sharif]

thats good means more people are going to custom build or did i got the wrong idea :3

Edited December 4, 2013 by sharif

[Lord Pantaloons]

this has already been discussed at length here so it isn't necessary that we discuss it again.

[EChondo]

Everyone has a desktop computer that can do everything they need to do: taxes, Microsoft Office, web browsing, etc.

 

Would you buy a new computer every single year even though your Pentium II works just fine? Exactly.

 

We buy computers and computer parts because we play video games on PC, thus we need the best or second best to be able to perform decently to our standards. These reports only factor in OEM purchases, like from Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.

 

You shouldn't be concerned, these aren't about us, it's about the general public.

[Lord Pantaloons]

Everyone has a desktop computer that can do everything they need to do: taxes, Microsoft Office, web browsing, etc.

 

Would you buy a new computer every single year even though your Pentium II works just fine? Exactly.

 

We buy computers and computer parts because we play video games on PC, thus we need the best or second best to be able to perform decently to our standards. These reports only factor in OEM purchases, like from Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.

 

You shouldn't be concerned, these aren't about us, it's about the general public.

^^^ @ OP Those reports don't factor in individual hardware purchases like GPU's, CPU's, Motherboards etc.. only those terrible OEM boxes like Chondo said there's nothing to worry about.

[KrazyKap]

It would be nice for someone to sum everything up, but I have a few main ideas in my head. One is that a lot of people already own PCs and won't upgrade every year. Also, although Dell, HP and others are selling prebuilt machines, they don't have as much of a place as they used to I think, now that so many low-end machines exist. Another thing is that in basically every business, computers are used and will have to be used for a long time to come, they just won't necessarily all be replaced often.

[Mooshi]

The only thing good the BBC is for would be Top Gear.

 

We're PC enthusiasts and nothing will change this. Let the casuals have their underpowered cheap tablets to play Angry Birds with.

[_wky]

Everyone has a desktop computer that can do everything they need to do: taxes, Microsoft Office, web browsing, etc.

 

Would you buy a new computer every single year even though your Pentium II works just fine? Exactly.

 

We buy computers and computer parts because we play video games on PC, thus we need the best or second best to be able to perform decently to our standards. These reports only factor in OEM purchases, like from Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.

 

You shouldn't be concerned, these aren't about us, it's about the general public.

The general public? I don't like the sound of them!

[CwGoh]

Well, most people are perfectly fine with their current systems for email, HD video and casual games, and thus, will not buy a new computer often. However, according to what I know, custom PC part sales are going up.

[sirreco]

Everyone has a desktop computer that can do everything they need to do: taxes, Microsoft Office, web browsing, etc.

 

Would you buy a new computer every single year even though your Pentium II works just fine? Exactly.

 

We buy computers and computer parts because we play video games on PC, thus we need the best or second best to be able to perform decently to our standards. These reports only factor in OEM purchases, like from Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.

 

You shouldn't be concerned, these aren't about us, it's about the general public.

True.

 

The biggest consumers for OEM purchases are the big enterprises, they ususaly have a internal policy of replacing the desktop every 4 or 5 years, this is based mostly of manufacturer support. They know that now a days the computer advance in 4 years is not the same as it was 10 or 15 years ago, where a 3 years old PC was useless. So they try to extend the length of these contracts for as long as possible.

[Guest]

thats good means more people are going to custom build or did i get the wrong idea :3

iPads tabletš

[MangoJuiceStain]

It's cause more people are building their pc's, and people usually get a new pc every about 5 years.

[Dudenstein]

Most people that use PCs are not power users. They use it for word processing, web browsing, etc so their hardware needs don't require regular upgrades or new purchases. Sales are dropping because the hardware requirements for those tasks haven't gone up enough to warrant an upgrade from their existing desktop/laptop

[Jrobertson]

The only thing good the BBC is for would be Top Gear.

 

We're PC enthusiasts and nothing will change this. Let the casuals have their underpowered cheap tablets to play Angry Birds with.

And Doctor who, dont forget doctor who

[aithos]

All this means is that the lower end of the PC market is getting creamed by Tablets and that more and more people are building their own computers.  Why would you pay Dell or HP for a $400 machine with all no-name parts that is bound to break in a couple years?  I told my Mom not to buy an e-machine, she didn't listen and it was junk and broke in under a year.  It had awful software and was always a huge pain in the rear.

 

Games on PC are still selling reasonably well, especially FPS and MMORPG games.  Games like DOTA and LoL are doing really well, there is obviously still a market for PC gaming so the hardware will continue to exist forever.  At this point the consoles are just PCs with static hardware, so even if more of the market shifted that direction the architechture is closer now (x86) than ever before.  Developing for PC has never been easier than with the new consoles, bad ports should be virtually non-existent in the future.  Honestly, consoles should have moved to similar architectures years ago...

[EChondo]

True.

 

The biggest consumers for OEM purchases are the big enterprises, they ususaly have a internal policy of replacing the desktop every 4 or 5 years, this is based mostly of manufacturer support. They know that now a days the computer advance in 4 years is not the same as it was 10 or 15 years ago, where a 3 years old PC was useless. So they try to extend the length of these contracts for as long as possible.

But that depends on the enterprises. I work for a school district in their IT Department, nearly all of our computers are either brand new Dell's or HP's with i5 Ivy Bridge, or they are Core 2 Duo, Pentium D/4, or Celeron D machines. So these are around 7-8 years apart, and only the brand new machines are being given to the higher ups(most of IT though has brand new things whenever we want ). So nearly all elementary to high schools have Dell Optiplex's for the offices, libraries and computer courses that we have(Microsoft Office mostly).

 

Of course a school doesn't require high end machines, but I know many stores around us use the same machines(old Dells) and they don't seem to plan on upgrading anytime soon because those machines just "work". Obviously companies like Microsoft, Google, Apple will buy whatever they want, whenever they want, so they will always have the best of the best, but that isn't the case with most companies nowadays.

[TheMissxu]

I haven't bought a new PC since last year. Plus, even then, it might not have counted as I purchased each part individually.

[aithos]

I haven't bought a new PC since last year. Plus, even then, it might not have counted as I purchased each part individually.

 

According to "statistics" I haven't bought a PC since 2003 (refurbished compaq when i worked at Radioshack as a holdover because my system died and I couldn't build a new one).  Prior to that it was 1998.  I've built every system for the last ten years, it doesn't mean I'm not buying...it means I'm building.  But if you add up parts I've spent far more than an average consumer on each of my builds (even the cheap ones when I was poor).  So my contribution to the industry is very high but statistically speaking I'm a ghost.

 

That's why no one is actually concerned.  Companies like iBuyPower, DigitalStorm, Origin, etc are doing pretty well.  The market is easily supporting a half dozen boutiques and they are outrageously priced compared to building yourself.  People have just started to realize that building a computer if you're careful isn't much different than putting together a desk.  You look at the instructions, curse when you cut yourself and cross your fingers before you set your nice stuff on it (or power up). 

[Agons]

The PC will never die. It will merely adapt.

[SSL]

I'd like to see numbers for PC parts. I suspect that they are doing better than low-end pre-built machines, as there isn't any overlap in use case between a performance computer and some tablet used by a member of the mouth-breathing contingent.

[TheRuke]

My Steam Library disagrees...

[ccaian]

Just get a console... The PC community isn't large enough. Sure I hop on the PC for singleplayer centred games like saints row GTA 4 skyrim or even cs go and l4d. But if I want to have fun, like make new friends or laugh my ass off i'll hop on to xbox live. Its just the way things are.

[mr moose]

We buy computers and computer parts because we play video games on PC, thus we need the best or second best to be able to perform decently to our standards. These reports only factor in OEM purchases, like from Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.

IDC use more information than that for these statistics, they follow online shopping trends, customs import reports and tax lodgement etc.  They compile and absolute ton of data from all sources to determine how many pcs are actually in use.

 

The IDC has also said that people spend more time on pc's than tablets, and while tablet sales are increasing and have an effect they are not the reason for the decline. More evidence of this is that the sales of portable computers suffered a much large drop in sales as compared to a desktop, thus insinuating that tablet sales are effecting laptop sales more than they are desktop.

 

It is also interesting to note that the sales of domestic pc's fell be 15% where as commercial sales only fell by 5% and the overall next year is expected to be lower again. 

[OddlyShapedTree]

Well I see it that yes PC sales are declining but our sector of the industry isn't. There will always be room in an industry for the cutting edge consumer technology. Besides we aren;t going to be affected overnight.

[IdeaStormer]

Wow, sales are so bad new Desktop processors are coming out more often, more Video Cards, more Storage Drive types, more Fans, more Cases. So if its so bad why is there so much more new stuff coming out? If it was truly bad we'd see less new things to buy and a more streamlined product line not a wider one, OK only 2 CPU's and Video Card manufactures but at least the Video Cards are more variable, same for Mobo's.