Canalys ( A Company ) loses the plot and claims PCs are dying

Analyst outfits are falling into a logical la la land which states that PCs are completing with tablets and smartphones. Yesterday the analyst outfit Canalys claimed that Windows and Intel will continue losing market share to tablets and smartphones. The assumption is that it is comparing like with like.

Canalys claimed that Wintel machines will have 65 percent of the computer market this year, down from 72 percent in 2012. But in the fourth quarter of last year, combined shipments of desktops, netbooks and notebooks declined about 10 percent from the same period in 2011. Pin-Chen Tang, an analyst at Canalys made the somewhat silly claim that wintel PCs were becoming less likely as an individual’s first choice of computing device for everyday tasks, such as sending e-mail or Web browsing.

If I were a CEO of Canalys. I would lock Pin-Chen in a room with a tablet and tell him since that is what he wants, he can only do his business on it. I think when we let him out a couple of hours later he would be a dribbling loon having not written anything on his glorified Psion organiser. The belief that tablets, smartphones and PCs are competing against each other is a myth which was first started by Steve Jobs in Apple and parroted by those who do not have the brains to come up with a contrary opinion.

Jobs tried to sell the idea is that PCs and notebooks were being replaced by tablets and smartphones as part of a mobile revolution. The proof to this fallacy is that PC sales have declined while smartphones and tablet sales have increased. But car sales have also declined. Does this mean that tablets and smartphones are replacing cars? McDonald's sales have also declined, does this mean that people are tucking into tablets instead of two all-beef patties and special sauce with fries?

PC sales are slow, as they always are during periods of economic trouble. While more than 40 percent of US homes might have a tablet, they still have PCs and laptops too. Most of a tablet's functions are still that of the organiser. Most of a smartphone's functions are used doing traditional old phone work and messaging.

I will never get rid of my desktop, I just can’t see myself doing everything on a laptop, let alone a tablet.

I think it’s ridiculous to say nobody will use desktop PCs in 10 years just because of new competition.

Laptops and tablets are great for certain things, but for my personal use I will always stick with a desktop.

I am happy with my laptop.

I dont need a faster or better one.

I could see using my current (4 year old) laptop with Windows 7 for the next 10 years.

I also have an (2 year old) Android phone. I am happy with it. My contract was up 2 months ago. I could upgrade to a newer model. But why? The newer phones do not do anything more for me than my current one. So I am good with it for the next 5 years.

There is a point where advances in technology stops benefiting me.

And then I am all set and I dont need any more purchases for the foreseeable future.

This is inevitable.

I’m in my 20s, I grew up with all that stuff and I still don’t want to give up my desktop.

I have an Android smartphone, I like it and all, but it’s NEVER going to compete with my desktop PC.

My laptop is broken, the hinges on the screen are barely attached, so that really hasn’t convinced me of its superiority.

I can’t afford a tablet, nor really desire one. Most people I know that have them are just Apple fanatics who buy the “next big thing”. I’m more frugal with my limited income.

I require a real keyboard. Touch screens and microbuttons are not keyboards. They’re fine for twittering and solving boredom problems while driving, but for anything serious, I want a keyboard, and preferably a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard.

Trying to type on a touch screen is like trying to drive a nail with a screwdriver.

Tablets and the like are neat devices and are great for what they are.

But they are devices used largely to access data others have created. Look at photos, read email, surf website.

If you actually want to create something - write something, code something, draft something, populate a spreadsheet - tablets are not your first choice if they’re even a choice at all.

40s here, and will never do without my desktop. I have all: an Android, desktops, laptops, tablet, and Kindle. While I have enjoyed the tablet at night to maybe do some final reading before bed, or watch Netflix, it will never replace the functionality of my desktop. I was trying to write an email on it just last night and had to give up and come back to my desktop. Just a simple email.

And while I enjoy having my Android, can surf the web while I am out and about, websites are limited, at best.

At work we use laptops, and they may have functionality for freedom of movement, for hard data crunching, desktops still reign. And we all have our laptops docked and attached to at least one regular, if not two or more monitors.

I briefly saw another poster make a point that technology was moving so fast, that from the late 90s until recently, you almost had to build a new desktop every year to keep up. My current desktop is 2 years old, and is still extremely fast and able to keep up with recent innovations. Windows 7 is working very well, I don’t feel the need to upgrade.

Yes, I read this nonsense and had to laugh. A few days ago I ordered two Windows 8 high powered HP all-in-one touch screen PCs, one for my wife and one for me. They will replace two 6 and 7 year old PCs running Windows XP.

I know it will be a challenge as not only will we have to acclimate ourselves to an entirely new operating system, but also an entirely new interface of Microsoft Office having to migrate from Office 2003 to Office 2010.

We also plan to purchase a couple of tablets later this year to replace the netbook we use when traveling. While the netbook is OK for travel, no way would I ever want to be limited to the netbook for my daily use.

For anyone who uses a desktop to manage business or personal affairs, it would seem absurd to attempt to handle that type of work via a tablet. All I can say is, “You have got to be kidding me.” Why would I ever want to consider viewing internet pages throughout the day on a small tablet or smart phone when I can have a beautiful wide screen with a full-sized keyboard and a mouse. Plus, I now will have the benefit of a touch screen.

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