PC sales are dropping massively? Are we concerned?

[MasterJV]

Most people don't upgrade their pcs every year. My parents still have their Intel Q8200 with 4gbs of ram. Why? Because its fast enough for them.

Another reason is because people are going DIY, seeing how much money they can save instead of buying a pre built.

[aithos]

I think you have missed the point, this article refers to quite comprehensive data that shows a decline in pc sales. This information is very important to the industry as a whole, it plays a role in OS development, laptop development and configuration it also gives component manufactures an idea where their R&d dollars need to be spent. It may not directly effect the small percentage of peole who DIY their computers but indirectly it will effect the options we have via, OS and component development. FYI today's processors are still x86 they never stopped making them they just stopped making the 32bit version.

 

It's still a matter of market saturation and not a move away from the PC.  Look at cell phones, it's a similar story.  Everyone has them, some people replace them every year and others every decade.  Just because less "new" customers are buying every year and sales are tapering off doesn't predict an end of the cell phone.  It means that until time or innovation force people to change in droves the market is tapped out.  That's why companies look at overseas and new markets (like Apple is doing now).  They have already mostly tapped out the domestic market...

 

PCs are in the same boat, can you think of anyone you know who doesn't have a computer?  I can't.  I can't think of a single person I know who doesn't have at least a computer in their household.  Some, like my grandma have an old PC that she probably turns on once a year, but she has one.

[Alibaladin]

People are buying iOS/Android devices. PC maybe not so frequent?

[SSL]

Compare PCs to cameras. Most people don't own a pro SLR, yet there is still a large selection of professional/prosumer equipment. Keep in mind that phone cameras have been encroaching on the consumer camera market for awhile now. With x86 processors becoming more efficient all the time, there will be greater crossover in software between desktop/mobile/console platforms.

[mr moose]

It's still a matter of market saturation and not a move away from the PC.  Look at cell phones, it's a similar story.  Everyone has them, some people replace them every year and others every decade.  Just because less "new" customers are buying every year and sales are tapering off doesn't predict an end of the cell phone.  It means that until time or innovation force people to change in droves the market is tapped out.  That's why companies look at overseas and new markets (like Apple is doing now).  They have already mostly tapped out the domestic market...

 

PCs are in the same boat, can you think of anyone you know who doesn't have a computer?  I can't.  I can't think of a single person I know who doesn't have at least a computer in their household.  Some, like my grandma have an old PC that she probably turns on once a year, but she has one.

People are buying iOS/Android devices. PC maybe not so frequent?

 

yes, they are buying tablets and phones instead of laptops (which are included in pc figures).  so desktop systems have only dropped about 2% while laptops suffered an 8% drop and tablets increased massively.  In general terms people are still updating and buying, the domestic market has has just plateaued a bit combined with domestic and small business users switching to tablet from laptop.