Posted on 01/12/2013 9:18:23 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
PC industry slumps as Windows 8 fails to drive upgrades
Manufacturers in the computer industry were optimistic for the launch of Windows 8. Computer manufacturers and Microsoft hoped that the launch of Microsoft's latest version of its Windows operating system would spur consumers and businesses to upgrade and buy new PCs. However, IDC reports that Windows 8 did not have the impact expected for the computer market.
The research has offered up its numbers for Q4 2012 for the computer industry, and the results are far from positive. IDC reports that worldwide PC shipments totaled 89.8 million units in Q4 2012, representing a decline of 6.4% compared to Q4 2011. The decline during Q4 was worse than the forecasted decline of 4.4% for the computer market.
Lackluster sales during Q4 2012 marked the first time in more than five years that the PC market has seen a year-over-year decline during the holiday shopping season. The computer market continues to be challenged with the growing popularity of tablets and smartphones that many consumers are purchasing instead of upgrading computers.
"Lost in the shuffle to promote a touch-centric PC, vendors have not forcefully stressed other features that promote a more secure, reliable and efficient user experience,” said Jay Chou, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. “As Windows 8 matures, and other corresponding variables such as Ultrabook pricing continue to drop, hopefully the PC market can see a reset in both messaging and demand in 2013."
HP maintained the top position in the worldwide rankings for Q4 2012. Lenovo outpaced the market with growth of over 8% landing in the second place for the global computer market. Rounding out the top five PC vendors in order by sales volume are Dell, Acer, and ASUS.
Source: IDC
fyi
Windows 8 is the new New Coke.
The PC market is saturated. And a 12 year old OS like XP is still sufficient.
Of course, if you buy a new PC, you don’t have a choice. Win 7 is okay.
Windows 7 is an excellent OS. It’s the anti-Windows ME (or the anti-Windows Vista).
The PC market is not only saturated, it is losing share to alternatives: tablets and phones.
For many people, a tablet is sufficient.
What this article fails to talk about is the overall world economy. It sucks!
And now Europe’s problems will be (and are) compounded by the US government’s total failure to deal with its debt.
You could have the best product in the world, but still fail when ecnomies are crashing worldwide.
Now that everyone’s payroll taxes have gone up, what does that equal in PC sales?
A tablet has its place, and a PC has its place. I can’t drive a class 444 UK passenger train with “Train Simulator 2013” on my tablet.
OTOH, I can’t stretch out on my bed and check out FR on my PC.
Installed Linux on another PC... PC has been running great for 2 years. No re-install necessary.
What the heck is wrong with IE9, too? Part of the above problem may have been related to accepting the IE9 upgrade.
But you can sure drive a mean “Death Rally” on your iPhone.
There's a link on the homepage of RealClearTechnology.com (top item under "Reviews..")that avoids the WSJ paywall..not sure if we can post directly to WSJ on FR
Well worth reading/watching
FYI..see my #12 this thread
The CPU is a Pentium 4 2 core @ 3.2 Ghz. 4G ram. There are several other HD's including a 500G as D:.It's all stuffed into an old THINKCENTRE mid tower with a homebrewed power supply.
Time to UG hardware as well which is why I'm thinking about getting W8.
Since I like to build my own stuff I'm looking at: (ASRock H61M-DGS Complete-MBoard Combo w 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 3570K (4 x 3.80GHz) Quad-Core CPU & DDR3 RAM MEMORY)
Probably won't get that set. I just used it as an example. At $279 it isn't bad but I'm not sure about ASRock, never used one before.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.