Summary
PC desktop sales in Q1 2009 declined 8.1% compared to Q1 2008. And this is not due to the recession because sales of notebook PCs (laptops and netbooks) are up 11.7% for the same quarter. So what is going on?
Analysis
Well for one the current laptops and netbooks
(small laptops) are so powerful that for most consumers they have
enough horse power to do anything a consumer wants to do with a
computer. Only gamers and video editing enthusiasts need more power than a laptop can provide. Also the price of a netbook (about $350) is much less than that of a full desktop and need I mention laptops are portable?
Gone are the days where you had one PC desktop per family. Nowadays
every member of the family has his or her own computer so a laptop
makes much more sense. My son always takes his whenever he goes to
visit a friend, something he couldn't do with the old family desktop PC.
So what does the future look like for laptops: well, they will either get even smaller or turn into some hybrid netbook/smart phone device that will replace the laptop as we know it. With your new Internet netbook/smart phone you will want Internet connection wherever you go, so a huge market is opening up for netbooks
with integrated 3G data plans. You can now get them subsidized from
Verizon or AT&T even more blurring the line between smart phones
and laptops.
For more on technology trends see my blog.
