Best Buy CEO: Tablet Sales Are Crashing, Hope for PCs

VladDracule said:
What part of it sucks at art? Check reddit and youll see some incredible stuff done with the surface
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I think he means the thing itself, the actual device in your hands, is not a particularly compelling piece of hardware artistically speaking.
 
I'm actually surprised that Best Buy hasn't started a budget line of "basics" items like cheap HDMI cables and adapters for sale in stores. If it's something that I must have right away, it's usually things like that. I don't even bother ordering that stuff from Monoprice because their shipping is slow as shit.
 
We are now in a post-iPad era with phablets and versatile hybrids king. I've gotten rid of my tablets and now only use Galaxy Note phablet and Surface Pro 3.
 
Megalith said:
Best Buy is still a great place to buy high-risk items like monitors and laptops, where 8 out of 10 are fucked up with dead or stuck pixels. Hell, I just bought a Chromebook yesterday and there is a stuck blue pixel.

If I bought it at Amazon, I'd have to go through the trouble of shipping it back, but I got it at Best Buy and can simply walk in and get my money back.

I also prefer to get certain things like Blu-ray movies there, since they tend to come in cases that are all scratched and fucked up from Amazon.
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AHAHAHAHAHAHA

Of the last 40+ monitors I have purchased, I have had exactly 1 that was faulty.

Of the last 60+ laptops I have purchased I have had exactly 0 that had a problem when new. I have had 2 or 3 that have had to be repaired a year or so afterwards.

In my book, that is a pretty good track record for reliability.

The moral of the story is... If you buy crappy hardware, do not be surprised if you have crappy results.
 
10" screens? People make the mistake that if they can use it for 5 minutes, they can use it for 5 hours. No way you can do productivity on a 10" screen. Same goes for retina displays and movies. If you you're young enough you can appreaciate a full length movie but once you're in the 20's or 30's there's an increasing chance you can appreciate it for maybe 5 minutes and then you're eyes will relax themselves subconsciously or you will get a headache and by 40 you most likely need glasses for even that first 5 minutes.

The performance aspect will eventually get resolved. Just like PDA's were ahead of their time. The market collapsed and came back with a vengeance in Smartphones.

But the size issue isn't going away. That probelm is only partially addressed with Microsoft's convertible approach of a keyboard.

Mobile devices need a dock. That way you don't need a tablet, but can use a phone once they are powerful enough. Take you phone jam it in a dock at home, it charges and you have a desktop. When they will have enough power and decent os to support a desktop is TBD. But will happen.
 
Stiletto said:
*sits back with a drink*

*smacks lips*

So...who was it that was saying tablets were a fad? Oh, that's right...

*takes a drink*
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No kidding. I thought tablets were going to be awesome until I actually got one. Now it mostly collects dust. Turns out I don't need a 10" screen in bed or on the toilet after all. They make sense in a few cases, but its a niche product category.

When I hear certain tech 'journalists' remarking that kids today will never use a mouse and keyboard I develop a strong urge to kill something.
 
jpm100 said:
10" screens? People make the mistake that if they can use it for 5 minutes, they can use it for 5 hours. No way you can do productivity on a 10" screen. Same goes for retina displays and movies. If you you're young enough you can appreaciate a full length movie but once you're in the 20's or 30's there's an increasing chance you can appreciate it for maybe 5 minutes and then you're eyes will relax themselves subconsciously or you will get a headache and by 40 you most likely need glasses for even that first 5 minutes.

The performance aspect will eventually get resolved. Just like PDA's were ahead of their time. The market collapsed and came back with a vengeance in Smartphones.

But the size issue isn't going away. That probelm is only partially addressed with Microsoft's convertible approach of a keyboard.

Mobile devices need a dock. That way you don't need a tablet, but can use a phone once they are powerful enough. Take you phone jam it in a dock at home, it charges and you have a desktop. When they will have enough power and decent os to support a desktop is TBD. But will happen.
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Yeah thats not going to happen unless software advancement comes to a screeching halt. Software development/requirements increase as hardware increases pretty much in a parallel fashion. Phones will never ever ever have the hardware required to run the latest version of windows or OSX or even Linux because those software packages advance with desktop hardware
 
Cozmo85 said:
They don't match 3rd party sellers on amazon. Has to be shipped and sold by amazon.com.
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Same deal at Fry's, which makes no sense, because the the mega-big sign out front says "WE MATCH INTERNET PRICES". Someone should tell the vendors using Amazon that they aren't selling over the internet properly apparently ...
 
This thread reminded me that I have a Best Buy gift card that I should use before they go out of business.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
...Turns out I don't need a 10" screen...on the toilet after all...
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That's the only place my tablet gets used anymore. It only gets used to play solitaire when perched upon the porcelain throne. It doesn't even connect to the internet anymore. :p
 
Krenum said:
There is absolutely nothing that Best Buy has to offer. Nothing. Every single item they have in their store can be purchased somewhere else for cheaper.

The only thing that they can market on is convenience.
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I'm sure this post has something to do with this thread.
 
What about the "tablets can only do but so much, so no need to upgrade, and mine still works well for those few purposes" factor?
 
DeathFromBelow said:
No kidding. I thought tablets were going to be awesome until I actually got one. Now it mostly collects dust. Turns out I don't need a 10" screen in bed or on the toilet after all. They make sense in a few cases, but its a niche product category.

When I hear certain tech 'journalists' remarking that kids today will never use a mouse and keyboard I develop a strong urge to kill something.
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We have two IPads for two reasons:

1. They were free.
2. We wanted a portable music player. A free IPod would have done the same. Now our phones do the same.

Anything else, they're a toy. Nice toys, surely...but expensive, fragile, underpowered time wasters. Oh, you think they can be used in this industry and that industry? Good fucking luck finding software that isn't utter and complete garbage. The app market is a goddamned wasteland regardless of platform. Games are terrible and going nowhere because the controls suck. Productivity is minimal because of the limited interface. Battery life with no practical way to run it off AC power limits its scope.

...but the masses, and a good portion of the tech community, lovingly fellated these pieces of junk that will be worthless in 10 years, and then regain their value in 20 years via nostalgia. They're the WebTV of this generation.
 
I heard a rumor that you can even read books on tablets.
 
I actually prefer reading books on tablets.
I use moon reader and a black background with white letters. They just stand out better for me and wind up being a lot easier to read, again, at least for me.
 
Tablets are going the way of the flatscreen TV.

Everyone already has one and people are feeling likes its less and less necessary to upgrade.

Next we'll see gimicky tablets to try to push sales.
 
I think the rise of full OS tablets will make sales climb again. (Surface pro 3) etc.
 
Inu said:
I think the rise of full OS tablets will make sales climb again. (Surface pro 3) etc.
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It will be interesting to see what happens to this market as these $100 Windows 8.1 Atom tablets start to come to market. Nothing special, 1 GB or RAM, 16 GB SSD but still $100 and possibly somewhat lower as the holidays approach, could be interesting, especially as the hardware gets better at these price points. With HDMI out, this device could be all of the computer need even by people that do medium amounts of desktop office productivity work.
 
Grahamkracka said:
I have an iPad 2, and iOS 7 runs like shit on it. It's obsolete....because it's obsolete (in terms of capably running the newer OSs).
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And you don't think that's intentional on Apples part to make you buy an newer one?
 
"So you now find laptops at $300 that used to cost $1,000."

When did this happen? The $350 notebook of today is the same speed as the $400 notebook of 2007, just with more ram, and maybe a bigger hd. I should know, every year you buy a pos $400 notebook with a sub 1080p display and a dual core cpu ( or slow ass quad core) and standard hard drive. Its not like next years are faster. Hell nothing as come out notably faster in the last 5 years.

Sweet look we get 20-30% more performance per buck, after 4+ years.

http://.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-930-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790
 
Market saturation achieved. When all the casual users have their devices and are happy with them why upgrade?

But I guess somehow we'll get another "PC market is dying" article from this as well :rolleyes:
 
are touch laptops helping to kill off the tablet?

or is it that after the touch novelty wears off, people realize they couldn't do shit with tablets
 
Safety said:
Depending on the manager, price matching at Best Buy is a tremendous pain in the ass.
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Maybe your local BB manager is but in my area I use a phone app to scan barcode, price check and BB matches it. I've done it tons of times. No one single hassle.
 
dr.kevin said:
are touch laptops helping to kill off the tablet?

or is it that after the touch novelty wears off, people realize they couldn't do shit with tablets
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If you read the article, the "crashing" part got rolled back. It's just tablet sales exploded so fast and stabilized almost as quickly. However their overall growth is still out pacing PCs considerably. Tablets aren't going anywhere and I've not seen too many people stop using their tablets that were happy with them that went back to a laptop.
 
gordon151 said:
Some of you guys must live by some horrible Best Buys. I've been to maybe 4 of them throughout my area and its always easy to price match and very little do I have to stand in a long line to return things. Also since Amazon charges tax in Florida now, its pretty convenient to take advantage of their price matching. Provided the item is sold by Amazon.com and not any other seller of course (which I hope you guys are making sure is the case!).
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QFT. Nothing but good experiences returning items and getting price matches to Amazon at my local BB's. It really must be region dependent I guess.

Amazon is starting to piss me off with the rising costs of shipping things overnight (used to be $3.99 regardless of size), higher prices, and slower shipping times. Yeah, it may be prime 2-day shipping, but only after they get around to actually processing the order.

IMO, Amazon needs to either get back to doing what they do best, or returning prime to the way it used to be and charging less for the membership for those of us that don't care a lick about their streaming services.
 
derek533 said:
IMO, Amazon needs to either get back to doing what they do best, or returning prime to the way it used to be and charging less for the membership for those of us that don't care a lick about their streaming services.
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It would be nice to tier Prime pricing for those that don't want the services. I don't mind the movies as there's content there not on Netflix. The music service is pointless as those are now a dime a dozen.
 
nightanole said:
"So you now find laptops at $300 that used to cost $1,000."

When did this happen? The $350 notebook of today is the same speed as the $400 notebook of 2007, just with more ram, and maybe a bigger hd. I should know, every year you buy a pos $400 notebook with a sub 1080p display and a dual core cpu ( or slow ass quad core) and standard hard drive. Its not like next years are faster. Hell nothing as come out notably faster in the last 5 years.

Sweet look we get 20-30% more performance per buck, after 4+ years.

http://.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-930-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790
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As far as mobile goes, the advancement has been huge in terms of power consumption as well as the IGP. I remember 5 years ago a huge 12 cell battery on my HP laptop with the Centrino procs lasted maybe 1:40 mins, my MBP lasted 2:30 or so on windows. In 2011 I bought a Vaio that Lasted 4 hrs, 2012 I bought another vaio roughly same battery life 20% faster, then the Vaio Duo 11 lasted Almost 6 hrs and was 5% faster than the one before it, my most recent Dell Laptop is 15% or so faster than the Vaio Duo and the battery last easily 8hrs on a 4 cell.

Mobile performance has gained quite a bit year by year and the IGP in it as well, but we have gained so much in usage time that now you can do what you need to do the whole work day (except of course play games) on a single charge. You dont have to reach for that charger every few hours or keep it plugged in all the time.
 
Love the HardForum.

Half the people here are complaining about BBY and not about the article.

If it were not for massive subsidies, cell phone purchases would have crashed too. I have an iPhone 5 and I see no reason to upgrade except that it is practically free to upgrade after 2 years. If I had to pay several hundred for a new phone, I probably would have had the same phone I did from a few generations ago.
 
Staples said:
If it were not for massive subsidies, cell phone purchases would have crashed too. I have an iPhone 5 and I see no reason to upgrade except that it is practically free to upgrade after 2 years. If I had to pay several hundred for a new phone, I probably would have had the same phone I did from a few generations ago.
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Although I agree with you, I'd just like to point out that its not ACTUALLY free and there are ZERO actual subsidies on the phone. They simply build the phone price into the contract price.

What I'd wish they'd do is give you the option to include that built in price or not on your plan. That way if you want to keep your old phone, you can, no problem, and instead of $70 a month you'd pay $40 a month for two years.
 
gordon151 said:
Some of you guys must live by some horrible Best Buys. I've been to maybe 4 of them throughout my area and its always easy to price match and very little do I have to stand in a long line to return things. Also since Amazon charges tax in Florida now, its pretty convenient to take advantage of their price matching. Provided the item is sold by Amazon.com and not any other seller of course (which I hope you guys are making sure is the case!).
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Yes, some of us do live by terrible Best Buys. I need an HDMI cable (no real rush) and stopped at the local Best Buy to pick one up. Figured it should be around $20 or so. The sales person took me into their home theater section and tried to sell me a a 6ft HDMI cable for $179!!! I just started laughing and walked out of the store, never to return. I ordered 2 6ft HDMI cables from Newegg for $12.65 (tax and shipping included).
 
You might complain about Best Buy but I was in a bad accident 2 years ago and failed to pay off a promotion. I received a settlement, called Best Buy and they gave me back the credit. I have never seen an online company ever do that. Newegg ripped me for a 25% restock on a laptop they wouldn't even discuss it. This was after I had spent thousands of dollars there. So far Best Buy has price matched me from Amazon and Sams Club with no hassle. The only Online retailer that hasn't given me problems is Amazon. And their prime shipping is a joke, free my butt the cost is figured into the item price. Best Buy never has given me any hassle on returns. Why would I buy online now since there isn't the great savings that used to be.
Pretty much the prices are the same now..
 
Krenum said:
There is absolutely nothing that Best Buy has to offer. Nothing. Every single item they have in their store can be purchased somewhere else for cheaper.

The only thing that they can market on is convenience.
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So instead of offering nothing, Best Buy offers convenience. :p
 
PornoSatan said:
So instead of offering nothing, Best Buy offers convenience. :p
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I dont understand this push to use online sellers. I HATE being dependent on online sellers. If i order something i have to wait a few days for it to ship. Then say theres a problem, i have to ship it back, and then wait even a few more days for a new one.

If its at a local store i can go in, but it, take it home, if theres a problem take it back and even get a new one that very same day.

That along with amazons utterly disgusting bully tactics on pricing, its a very very negative thing on our economy, and absolutely kills local economies just the same as walmart does by putting smaller companies out
 
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