Global PC Shipments Fell 10% Last Year

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The sky is falling! The sky is falling! This time the sky has fallen another 10%. Oh no, what shall we do?

Personal-computer shipments fell 10 percent in 2013, marking the worst-ever decline after lackluster holiday sales underscored how consumers and businesses are shunning machines for mobile devices, two research firms said.
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Steve said:
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! This time the sky has fallen another 10%. Oh no, what shall we do?
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computer-throwing-window-out-stupid-monitor.jpg


Well I guess it's time to toss my desktop out the window. The computer Gods have spoken.
 
I think the operative quote is this one

Growth in the PC market has become dependent on consumers and businesses replacing existing machines, rather than wooing new buyers.
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People and businesses are willing to hold onto machines longer since (like cars) there isn't always a compelling reason to replace them prematurely or quickly ... Tablets and Smartphones are much earlier in their development curve (and usually a lot cheaper) so they can drive repeat purchases easier than PCs ... if the worldwide economy picks up substantially allowing Enterprise to replace more of their aging systems (and consumers to have more disposable income) or if some significant technology change occurs in PCs so there is a compelling reason to upgrade then they will bounce right back :cool:
 
Stop selling windows tablet edition as windows 8 for desktops and server 2013 for servers.
 
slavearm said:
Stop selling windows tablet edition as windows 8 for desktops and server 2013 for servers.
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I heard the ORN Lab was half way through their massive Titan supercomputer computation when the charm bar popped up ...
 
You know something else that has stopped me from upgrading is my i7-920 has been so damn good for nearly 5 years now at 3.7ghz, for pc gaming even.
 
slavearm said:
Stop selling windows tablet edition as windows 8 for desktops and server 2013 for servers.
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Hey cool, another Windows 8 bashing thread, who would have thunk it. :eek: Desktop PC's sell fewer than last year, news at 11. :D
 
You would think that computers made over the last five years were faster than anything that came before them and could still run upgraded copies of windows instead of purchasing whole new machines and still be perfectly capable of running just about any software packages still available today :p

Seriously these "research groups/firms" need to get it through their heads that just because a business has the means to purchase doesn't necessarily mean their IT guy or boss (especially in SMB) are willing to toss out their perfectly working machines. It also does not mean they are buying mobile stuff.
 
We have had quad cores fo what 5 years now? Yet most programs do not ues 4 threads and if you took a pc from 5 years ago and put and ssd in it put it next to a new pc I would say 90% of the people couldn't tell the new system from the old for web browsing and light usage. Think back to the late 90 a 5 year old pc was a pos and couldn't run much at all day and.
 
tunatime said:
We have had quad cores fo what 5 years now? Yet most programs do not ues 4 threads and if you took a pc from 5 years ago and put and ssd in it put it next to a new pc I would say 90% of the people couldn't tell the new system from the old for web browsing and light usage. Think back to the late 90 a 5 year old pc was a pos and couldn't run much at all day and.
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Almost 7 years ago now. A Q6600 can still hold its own in most programs and games.
 
ManofGod said:
Hey cool, another Windows 8 bashing thread, who would have thunk it. :eek: Desktop PC's sell fewer than last year, news at 11. :D
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These surveys aren't counting Windows x86 tablets or hybrids it looks. For IDC's report: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24595914

•PCs include Desktops, Portables, Ultraslim Notebooks, Workstations and do not include handhelds, x86 Servers and Tablets (i.e. iPad, Tablets with detachable keyboards running either Windows or Android). Data for all vendors are reported for calendar periods.
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So devices like the Asus T100 and Dell Venue 8 Pro weren't included in this count and I bet those were two of the best selling Windows devices last quarter. And indications are that the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 did well and there were other cheap Windows 8 tablets that came out during the quarter as well. So it will be interesting to see the Windows tablet numbers. I'm sure they didn't make up for the 10% slide in traditional PC sales but they had to close the gap somewhat.
 
You guys have it spot on.

There just hasn't been a reason to upgrade, so no need to keep buying a new computer every year like we used to do.

My 955 BE with 8GB RAM is still holding up more than fine after I put it together in 2009. And I'm running it stock speeds. The only things I changed since 2009 were to upgrade the video card from a 4850 to a 5850 and add a ssd. Hardly anything ground breaking that required a complete computer upgrade.

Software is to blame for the level off. In particular consoles are to blame for having been let to age for so long, software just became the mediocre. Maybe the new consoles will change this, but I doubt it as they seem to be not much chop. There is a reason why lots of new computers are pieces of junk, because software complexity and innovation has stopped progressing, and in the cases of win8 and mobile, it's gone backwards to almost extreme simplicity in every way.
 
MV75 said:
You guys have it spot on.

There just hasn't been a reason to upgrade, so no need to keep buying a new computer every year like we used to do.

My 955 BE with 8GB RAM is still holding up more than fine after I put it together in 2009. And I'm running it stock speeds. The only things I changed since 2009 were to upgrade the video card from a 4850 to a 5850 and add a ssd. Hardly anything ground breaking that required a complete computer upgrade.

Software is to blame for the level off. In particular consoles are to blame for having been let to age for so long, software just became the mediocre. Maybe the new consoles will change this, but I doubt it as they seem to be not much chop. There is a reason why lots of new computers are pieces of junk, because software complexity and innovation has stopped progressing, and in the cases of win8 and mobile, it's gone backwards to almost extreme simplicity in every way.
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This is the biggest problem. Intel simply hasn't kept up on innovation. There's barely any reason to get a new computer lately because the performance of systems, no matter the price range, haven't increased in performance or capacity. Sure, many of the low end laptop systems have moved to a tablet form factor, but they're still at about the same performance level at the same price point.

A $600 system now is just as slow as a $600 system was in 2009. A $300 tablet now is just as slow as a $300 netbook was in 2009. (If you factor in a keyboard for that tablet, they are actually more expensive!) A $2000 gaming system today (core i7 4770) is about the same speed in many things as a $2000 gaming system (Core i7 950) was in 2009. The graphics in gaming systems is the only component that has become faster, and Intel had no part in that. So, many consumers are wondering "Why bother buying a new one?" Well, there really isn't a reason right now.

So, sales are going down. Duh. That's because they aren't needed. They aren't needed because Intel hasn't brought anything new to the table in 5 years, except lower power consumption, and that's hardly anything most people would get excited about.
 
dgingeri said:
This is the biggest problem. Intel simply hasn't kept up on innovation. There's barely any reason to get a new computer lately because the performance of systems, no matter the price range, haven't increased in performance or capacity. Sure, many of the low end laptop systems have moved to a tablet form factor, but they're still at about the same performance level at the same price point.

A $600 system now is just as slow as a $600 system was in 2009. A $300 tablet now is just as slow as a $300 netbook was in 2009. (If you factor in a keyboard for that tablet, they are actually more expensive!) A $2000 gaming system today (core i7 4770) is about the same speed in many things as a $2000 gaming system (Core i7 950) was in 2009. The graphics in gaming systems is the only component that has become faster, and Intel had no part in that. So, many consumers are wondering "Why bother buying a new one?" Well, there really isn't a reason right now.

So, sales are going down. Duh. That's because they aren't needed. They aren't needed because Intel hasn't brought anything new to the table in 5 years, except lower power consumption, and that's hardly anything most people would get excited about.
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Have any performance metrics to back that up? I sure haven't seen any.
 
For most people, buying a new computer isn't important or necessary. There are a lot of other more interesting new gadgets and services to spend money on so computers that are still "good enough" or "adequate" are hanging around as long as they aren't broken.
 
dgingeri said:
This is the biggest problem. Intel simply hasn't kept up on innovation. There's barely any reason to get a new computer lately because the performance of systems, no matter the price range, haven't increased in performance or capacity. Sure, many of the low end laptop systems have moved to a tablet form factor, but they're still at about the same performance level at the same price point.

A $600 system now is just as slow as a $600 system was in 2009. A $300 tablet now is just as slow as a $300 netbook was in 2009. (If you factor in a keyboard for that tablet, they are actually more expensive!) A $2000 gaming system today (core i7 4770) is about the same speed in many things as a $2000 gaming system (Core i7 950) was in 2009. The graphics in gaming systems is the only component that has become faster, and Intel had no part in that. So, many consumers are wondering "Why bother buying a new one?" Well, there really isn't a reason right now.

So, sales are going down. Duh. That's because they aren't needed. They aren't needed because Intel hasn't brought anything new to the table in 5 years, except lower power consumption, and that's hardly anything most people would get excited about.
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I am not sure if I would blame Intel for this ... when I worked at Intel in the 80's/90's the CEO at the time (Andy Grove) showed us a model Intel called the Technology curve ... software pushed the limits of hardware so that new hardware would be needed that software could then push again

I think CPU and GPU technology became so advanced that the software companies were happy with the capabilities they had ... even if Intel were to come out with some exotic hardware change there would be a limited audience for it since most Enterprise and Consumer purchasers are satisfied with their technologies from years ago

I blame the game companies for the stagnation ... if we had more companies pushing out 4K resolution games or more graphically intense titles then there might be more push for faster hardware ... however, it seems to be things like hard drive speeds and bus speeds that control system performance more than CPUs and GPUs ... with most gamers only pushing 1920x1080 resolution rather than 3840 pixels × 2160 lines (4K) or resolutions spanning 3 to 6 monitors it is hard for them to benefit from CPU or chipset upgrades (that Intel might provide)
 
Years ago you would see a 50%+ improvement in CPU performance every couple years. Now, if I bought the lastest desktop quad core CPU, I'd only see about a 20% improvement over my almost 4 year old i7. Not worth spending the money for 20%. Only reason I would upgrade in the next couple years is is my system board or CPU died.

Instead, I just updated my old i7 Desktop with an SSD. Figure I should be good for another 3-4 years.
 
kbrickley said:
People and businesses are willing to hold onto machines longer since (like cars) there isn't always a compelling reason to replace them prematurely or quickly ...
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I was looking at my storage of old PCs and realized that I could use a lot of old parts, and in fact I did. I have computer cases from 10 years ago that look great, and work fine for medium to light computers. Threw in a AMD APU in there, and now it's a great HTPC. Desktop PCs are modular for this reason, cause you don't need to replace the whole machine, just bits of pieces of parts.

Anyone using a desktop PC will either build one, or get a friend to do it. God knows I've taught a number of people how to build a PC, and it's even easier today then 15 years ago. Laptops unfortunately aren't modular, but people rarely want to upgrade unless they break, or slow down so badly that upgrading is the only option. My Compaq laptop is about 3-4 years, and it works. I had to replace the motherboard, but I have no reason to upgrade. In fact the laptop can support far better CPUs that are worth nothing on Ebay. It's got a dual core Athlon running at 2 Ghz, but triple or quad cores are only $30 to $40 on Ebay. BTW, if anyone has to wonder why they started to solder CPUs to motherboards, that's the reason why. They don't want customers buying cheap laptops and then buying upgrades cheaply on Ebay. That's also the reason why wifi adapters are whitelisted, to prevent people from getting more for less.

And they wonder why people would rather build their own PC. 10 years ago more then half the computers came with no AGP slow from companies like Dell or HP. Some don't even come with PCI Express slots for video cards either.

Tablets and Smartphones are much earlier in their development curve (and usually a lot cheaper) so they can drive repeat purchases easier than PCs ... if the worldwide economy picks up substantially allowing Enterprise to replace more of their aging systems (and consumers to have more disposable income) or if some significant technology change occurs in PCs so there is a compelling reason to upgrade then they will bounce right back :cool:
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Tablets are disposable devices, unlike desktops or laptops. I don't care who you are, at some point you broke at least one of these machines. You dropped it, spilled water on it, or looked at it the wrong way. If you have kids, forget it. They broke it within a weeks worth of time. Tablets are repairable, but not like a desktop computer. You have to know some pretty serious stuff to repair it, and like all proprietary hardware, you're better off getting a new one then to fix the old one.

But like the desktop PC or laptop, the software market isn't growing for tablets, in terms of hardware requirements. There's a very good chance that any tablet will meet your needs without performance issues. The software just isn't there to take advantage of the hardware, and hasn't for a long time now. Nobody is willing to pay for software that does, and nobody wants to in fear of alienating customers. There's also issues with heat and battery, as any application that can put your tablet to work will make you very sad. Hot to the touch, and the device needs to be recharged after playing Crysis for 2 hours.

Good news though, the PC market is re-surging again, thanks to the failure of game consoles. As soon as Xbox 360 and PS3 becomes irrelevant, then PCs will matter. Those consoles still play a huge roll, even more so then PS4/Xbone. In my book the PS4/Xbone has already failed to capture the attention of gamers, but SteamOS and SteamBox is working magic.
 
dgingeri said:
A $300 tablet now is just as slow as a $300 netbook was in 2009. (If you factor in a keyboard for that tablet, they are actually more expensive!)
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This simply isn't true. Just looking at Windows tablets with the new Bay Trail Atoms, they crush previous generation Atoms in every way, performance, heat and battery life and the pricing is very much in line from netbooks from 2009 except there are no crappy TN 1024x600 panel devices anymore.
 
It seems to me a big factor in this is the emergence of better operating systems vs microsoft windows. Are chromebooks included in the pc sales data?

Isn't it the case that Macs are growing in market share?

Windows computers are too difficult for the non-techies out there to maintain. Although admittedly they have improved with the past few iterations of Windows.

Anyway, my core i7 920 is stll going strong. A few incremental upgrades since its build in 2009 (ssd, gpu, nzxt case, etc). Everytime a new cpu comes along I read the benchmarks and end up deciding against an upgrade.
 
biggles said:
It seems to me a big factor in this is the emergence of better operating systems vs microsoft windows. Are chromebooks included in the pc sales data?

Isn't it the case that Macs are growing in market share?

Windows computers are too difficult for the non-techies out there to maintain. Although admittedly they have improved with the past few iterations of Windows.

Anyway, my core i7 920 is stll going strong. A few incremental upgrades since its build in 2009 (ssd, gpu, nzxt case, etc). Everytime a new cpu comes along I read the benchmarks and end up deciding against an upgrade.
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It is going to take significantly more than an OS change ... we need a paradigm shift on the order of those we saw in the 80s and 90s (digital sound, accelerated graphics, video, high resolution, etc) ... most of the current Enterprise users don't use more than the standard Suite of Office products (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, etc) ... most consumers aren't even gamers (who are the most likely to push the technology envelope)

We need a significant technology jump ... Holography, wall size high resolution panels, etc to really push for a substantial change ... even cheaper solutions don't help too much since older computer technology is so powerful and tends to flow down hill to new developing world consumers
 
I know that my office plans to replace all of their remaining XP machines before we run into HIPAA compliance issues. So PC manufacturers might be a temporary boost in sales this year.
 
biggles said:
It seems to me a big factor in this is the emergence of better operating systems vs microsoft windows. Are chromebooks included in the pc sales data?
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I believe Chromebooks are included in this data as they are conventional fixed screen clamshell designs. There really isn't anything that has emerged on the desktop that even challenges Windows 8 in market share. All the market share surveys now show Windows 8.x alone as having more market share on the desktop than all other non-Windows OSes combined.

biggles said:
Isn't it the case that Macs are growing in market share?
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Mac sales are down around the same as PC sales overall for the last year plus as well. Whatever issues there are with Windows 8 there's nothing on the desktop not called Windows that is coming even close to challenging Windows 8's numbers.
 
Are those practically a PC, semi-tablets with laptop like processors running window-8 OS and capable of pretty much running anything Windows 8 can considered a tablet or considered a PC. I know of a few people that have found the Windows 8 tablets to be so good that they are basically replacing their non-gaming needs and for gaming needs are currently running an xbox one or PS4. I don't blame them too much for that at the moment as for the first time in a while consoles are running terrrribly far behind. It's a much more reasonable gap; though still behind.

I personally, could never give up my PC and have been looking into upgrading. Though like another poster already commended, my i7 (930 not 920 as in his case) overclocked has been doing great as far as gaming goes when paired with an R9-290 (non-x). I think it'll continue to do me fairly well less I decided to become really extravagant and go multi-monitor (still at a single monitor) or upgrade my processor.
 
ManofGod said:
Link please?
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It was buried in one of the Gartner reports apparrently http://www.zdnet.com/gartner-analys...s-bottomed-out-despite-q4-decline-7000024993/

Lenovo and Dell were the only PC vendors in the top five to see market share growth on an annual basis during the holiday quarter.

Lenovo was found to have showed strong growth in all regions, except one: Asia/Pacific. Coincidentally, the PC maker's home country of China continues to be a weak spot, as described by Gartner.

Stateside, the PC slump was larger with a 7.5 percent decline to just 15.8 million units shipped in Q4.

HP continues to reign supreme, despite a 10.3 percent decline in shipments year-over-year. Apple, in third place on the domestic PC vendor charts, saw a huge increase in market share: 28.5 percent more, year-over-year.
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ManofGod said:
Unfortunately, it does not give us the actual numbers of what they sold year over year. For instance, their chart shows Lenovo with a 6.6 % increase in Market Share yet even they sold fewer than the pervious year according to their chart.

Solid numbers are what is needed, not what seems to me to be an opinion article.
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If you want solid numbers, then this entire article and premise is a farce. You can't discount only one statistic because you don't agree with it, then agree with the rest.

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/...3-seventh-consecutive-quarter-decline/#!rUCBC

http://cdn2.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/01/gartner_pc_us_q4_2013.png
 
Lenovo did well also and saw an increase (as did Dell) but they are doing so at the expense of other companies who are losing share ... PCs need a major new capability that will force purchases at either the Enterprise level or Consumer level ... I am not sure if we will see that kind of shift in the near future

Now that just means that PC sales will stay low (if you can call more than 300 million units low) until things break in bulk ... people get lots of money burning a hole in their pocket ... or some amazing new technology requires a significant upgrade
 
kreno said:
Seriously these "research groups/firms" need to get it through their heads that just because a business has the means to purchase doesn't necessarily mean their IT guy or boss (especially in SMB) are willing to toss out their perfectly working machines. It also does not mean they are buying mobile stuff.
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So they should stop reporting on the decline?
 
In other news, Global Warming causes Global Cooling today, but in the 1970's, according to Time magazine, Global Cooling was caused by...drumroll....Global Cooling! Amazing stuff...who'd a thunk it?

Q: How did Time magazine grow so dimwitted in just a few decades?

A: It's obvious: the recent, temporarily accelerated growth of tablets compared to desktop computer sales has caused Global Stupidity! (Well, at Time, Inc., at least.)
 
kbrickley said:
Lenovo did well also and saw an increase (as did Dell) but they are doing so at the expense of other companies who are losing share ... PCs need a major new capability that will force purchases at either the Enterprise level or Consumer level ... I am not sure if we will see that kind of shift in the near future
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That's kind of the point of Windows 8, to allow for good PC tablets and both Lenovo and Dell introduced two of most talked about 8" Windows 8 tablets last quarter. Dell particularly seems to have sold a lot of these 8" devices that aren't showing in these reports.
 
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