Wednesday, January 9th 2013

2013 Could be a Difficult Year for the PC Industry: Analyst

Big tradeshows such as the International CES are often used as a benchmark to gauge which areas of consumer-technology are faring better than the other. Industry analyst DigiTimes observed that PC is riding the CES bus on an uncomfortable backseat, which is an indication that the year could be difficult for the PC industry in general.

According to the analyst, although PC makers are aggressively promoting their Windows 8 creations - notebooks, desktops, and dockable tablets, - TV, living-room web-enablement, is attracting the most attention. Why this spells a bad news to PC makers is that with web-browsing being the most popular PC usage activity, no longer needing a PC, and doing so on web-enabled TVs could pose a disruptive innovation for the PC. Also, the theme for 2013, with PC makers appears to be more of cutting prices, instead of new innovations.
Source: DigiTimes
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71 Comments on 2013 Could be a Difficult Year for the PC Industry: Analyst

#26
TheMailMan78
Big Member
Prima.VeraRelax guys, desktops wont go away for the next 20 or more years, I'm willing to bet this with anyone. They might transform, but they will never go away. You can't just do rendering, 3D modeling, simulations and stuff on tablets or laptops, common! Use your brains for a while.
Render farms and cloud disagree.
Posted on Reply
#27
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
3870x2When I was going to work for the NSA, I was going to move to Baltimore, north of DC. A house was starting at $550,000, if you wanted a yard with it. Rent with a yard would have started at $2000, anything nice was $2600 or above.

It is one of the reason that I turned down the offer, they were only going to give me 14.4k for housing a year.
you picked the wrong areas to look. i have two friends who spent years at the NSA and they found affordable housing 30 minutes away in a safe neighborhood.
Posted on Reply
#28
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
Prima.VeraRelax guys, desktops wont go away for the next 20 or more years, I'm willing to bet this with anyone. They might transform, but they will never go away. You can't just do rendering, 3D modeling, simulations and stuff on tablets or laptops, common! Use your brains for a while.
Workstations will be here for a while, but that has nothing to do with consumer desktops. Also, Mailmans post.
Posted on Reply
#29
3870x2
Easy Rhinoyou picked the wrong areas to look. i have two friends who spent years at the NSA and they found affordable housing 30 minutes away in a safe neighborhood.
We wanted to come home to Missouri also. To tell you the truth, I wanted to work for them. The NSA at a GS11 step 3 was a glorious job for someone my age (26). That is the rank people usually retire at in government work. The wife wouldn't have it, and I can't blame her too much. I would be gone just as much as I was in 5th grp.

People look at me funny when I tell them that I turned down that opportunity, but sometimes family really is that important.
Posted on Reply
#30
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
3870x2People look at me funny when I tell them that I turned down that opportunity, but sometimes family really is that important.
oh i completely understand. i live about 1.5 hours from NSA headquarters and the rest of my family live less than 30 minutes away. i would love to work for the NSA in like 10 years and get to move closer to family.
Posted on Reply
#31
ZenZimZaliben
This is the CES...it's the latest greatest tech show. PC's are not new tech...there isn't that much exciting about them because they have been around for decades, so they don't get the media coverage. This in no way correlates to PC's are dying and will be gone in 5 years.

Media and Propaganda. In the end the modular and component level design of PC's will not be replaced by an all-in-one-unit like a Tablet.

Steams "Piston" is a modular PC that did receive coverage because it's from a very Media Popular game developer and is a cool looking package.
Posted on Reply
#32
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
3870x2People look at me funny when I tell them that I turned down that opportunity, but sometimes family really is that important.
Imo they are always that important. Respect man. :toast:
Posted on Reply
#33
Kreij
Senior Monkey Moderator
The relevence of PCs always comes into question when there is new technology that trends popular.
While tablets and mobile device sales are going through the roof, the PC will remain the stoic member of many households for a long, long time. People and analysts can pontificate on the demise of PCs all they want, but there is still a huge demand for them, even if that has slowed in the marketplace.
There are still a lot of people who want a keyboard, mouse, a nice monitor and the versatility that a PC gives them that other devices cannot.

Just my 2 cents.
Posted on Reply
#34
remixedcat
I think also console gaming has held PC gaming back becuase nobody is really pushing GPUs enough, thus making the whole industry sag becuase they aren't motivated to make stuff better as much as they like.

There are people with 4-5 year old hardware that's still gloatworthy.... that tells yah somethin.... Never ever thought it would come to that.

Hell I have lots of people every day that tell me my system is overkill. IDC LOL.
Posted on Reply
#35
Jorge
Until real jobs are created in the U.S., Europe and Asia there will be no real economic recovery and the PC industry like most other industries except the auto and aircraft industries (currently), will continue to econimically suffer because there are 100+ million people who have lost their jobs in the past 5 years and many more will lose their jobs as business after business closes it's doors forever.

If I had a $1. for every person who bought a house at $100+K a few years back that has the same house worth about $60K now, I be a multi-millionaire. The media spins the B.S. they are spoon fed by the clowns in DC as if it were actually true, when anyone with an economic clue knows the claims don't match reality when you see people still losing their jobs, homes, retirement, etc.

While there may be some shift in consumer preference in PC hardware, the main problem is unemployment. Those with a secure, decent income are still buying cars, new homes, cellphones, etc. but there are many millions of people who are lucky to just buy food and hopefully pay the rent or mortgage.
Posted on Reply
#36
Morgoth
Fueled by Sapphire
im tryng to get a new job so i can buy more crap :)
Posted on Reply
#37
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
Morgothim tryng to get a new job so i can buy more crap :)
so what you are really saying is you want to live in the USA.
Posted on Reply
#39
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
Morgothnope
the netherlands doesnt strike me as a place where a lot of people want better jobs to buy more crap. that is our speciality here in the USA.
Posted on Reply
#40
Jorge
Easy Rhinothe netherlands doesnt strike me as a place where a lot of people want better jobs to buy more crap. that is our speciality here in the USA.
I doubt that this desire is unique to the U.S. ;)
Posted on Reply
#41
Aquinus
Resident Wat-man
JorgeI doubt that this desire is unique to the U.S. ;)
No. We're just damn good at being greedy.
Easy Rhinothe netherlands doesnt strike me as a place where a lot of people want better jobs to buy more crap. that is our speciality here in the USA.
Only if you have the necessary skills to enter the workforce where those jobs exist. It's skilled labor we need. You want money, you work for it. You know why? Because this is America. :toast::p
Posted on Reply
#42
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
AquinusNo. We're just damn good at being greedy.


Only if you have the necessary skills to enter the workforce where those jobs exist. It's skilled labor we need. You want money, you work for it. You know why? Because this is America. :toast::p
please, half the population would rather sit around and collect a government check then go out and work manual labor where they are paying $20-30 hour.
Posted on Reply
#43
Jorge
Easy Rhinoplease, half the population would rather sit around and collect a government check then go out and work manual labor where they are paying $20-30 hour.
Why work when the Pres thinks the U.S. should be a socialist state and those unwilling to work can sit on their arse and get paid handsomely for it? :mad:
Posted on Reply
#44
3870x2
Easy Rhinothe netherlands doesnt strike me as a place where a lot of people want better jobs Loans to buy more crap. that is our speciality here in the USA.
FTFY. The original was pretty good too.
Posted on Reply
#45
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
3870x2FTFY. The original was pretty good too.
true. don't work harder, just get a CC with a higher limit :laugh:
Posted on Reply
#46
Jorge
In the U.S.those who work pay for those who refuse to work.
Posted on Reply
#47
cadaveca
My name is Dave
KreijThe relevence of PCs always comes into question when there is new technology that trends popular.
While tablets and mobile device sales are going through the roof, the PC will remain the stoic member of many households for a long, long time. People and analysts can pontificate on the demise of PCs all they want, but there is still a huge demand for them, even if that has slowed in the marketplace.
There are still a lot of people who want a keyboard, mouse, a nice monitor and the versatility that a PC gives them that other devices cannot.

Just my 2 cents.
PC sales will always continue, since nearly every business needs them in order to operate. The PC is not dead, and never will be.


However, outside of office use, there are undeniable signs that the market is changing, and really, if you didn't expect this, you need to examine the writing on the wall a bit closer.

Most people's computing needs are managed by their smartphones.

I used to be able to sell about 100 plain $1000 PCs, with large storage and little GPU power, every year. Boxes to surf the internet, maybe manage some pictures or music...whatever.

You can get the same thing now for $250 out of a tablet.

How do you sell people things for 4x as much, when really, that increased cost offers so little?


The economy isn't hurting because people aren't working. The sales of PC haven't declined because of a HDD shortage, although many an executive would like to tell you so.

The truth of the matter is that people's needs are met with other items, but sales people are still selling the same old things. Of course some sales guys are screaming that the sky is falling. They're still stuck in 2008!


:roll:
Posted on Reply
#48
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
cadavecaHow do you sell people things for 4x as much, when really, that increased cost offers so little?
the only thing the institution i work for looks for when buying new desktops for people is how much power they consume. the lower the better. this is the biggest benefit to business right now since all of the office applications use few resources.
Posted on Reply
#49
cadaveca
My name is Dave
Easy Rhinothe only thing the institution i work for looks for when buying new desktops for people is how much power they consume. the lower the better. this is the biggest benefit to business right now since all of the office applications use few resources.
I dunno, that is true in ideals up here, but not put into practice very much. Local hospitals could cut power bills by 80% with new boxes. They aren't going to buy ANYTHING.

The gov officials gave themselves a 60k-a-year raise instead. :p

It seems many businesses are looking for immediate savings, and if the cost of a new purchase doesn't show real benefit within 12 months, forget about trying to sell it to them.
Posted on Reply
#50
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
KreijThe relevence of PCs always comes into question when there is new technology that trends popular.
While tablets and mobile device sales are going through the roof, the PC will remain the stoic member of many households for a long, long time. People and analysts can pontificate on the demise of PCs all they want, but there is still a huge demand for them, even if that has slowed in the marketplace.
There are still a lot of people who want a keyboard, mouse, a nice monitor and the versatility that a PC gives them that other devices cannot.

Just my 2 cents.
I'm not so sure actually. Most people I know (yes anecdotal evidence! :D) pretty much hate desktops but use them because they either can't afford a replacement or is to lazy to learn something new. AIO's is a good way forward, but most people have no reason to buy a new traditional desktop, unless they are really REALLY strapped for cash. In which case used laptops will do the job as good.
JorgeWhy work when the Pres thinks the U.S. should be a socialist state and those unwilling to work can sit on their arse and get paid handsomely for it? :mad:
Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ok. Go to Generalnonsense.net and join them there. You'll have plenty of friends.

EDIT: And if you use the word "reality" I will smack you in the head.
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