It’s Way Premature To Be Writing The PC’s Obituary Yet – Commentators

The Economist projectsthat more than a $trillion will be spent globally on IT hardware in 2014, with tablet computer sales to grow by another whopping 40 percent according to market research firm Forrester, bringing the tablet-using demographic to around a half-billion, and businesses owning 14% of all tablets in 2014, doubling enterprise’s share of tablet-use in 2010. However, well over twice that many will continue using conventional PCs as their IT hardware modality. The editors also predict that if the trend to smaller tablets continues, with the current average screen size less than 8-inches, their threat as a competitor to laptop and desktop PCs will diminish.

I anecdotally concur. The iPad, as much as I am addicted to mine, is no substitute for a PC when you need PC power and efficiency, and I just bought a new MacBook Air that will serve as my anchor device for the next several years. I anticipate buying a new iPad Air in 2014, but while it will be used as intensively as I’ve used my current iPad 2, going it with an iPad alone was not something that merited even serious consideration in my hardware upgrade deliberations.

The Economist further predicts that laptops will continue to get sleeker and more tactile (ie: touchscreens), and suggests that prospects for “ultraslim” models (less than 0.8 inches thick) are actually likely to improve, thanks in part to greater take-up of Intel’s fourth-generation Haswell processor and more touchscreen Windows laptops leveraging Windows 8’s touch optimization. Another upside factor for PC sales will be Microsoft finally terminating support for Windows XP come April.

CTVNews IT correspondent Maurice Cacho concurs with The Economist that despite the popularity of tablets and smartphones, the PC is a long way from being dead yet. Cacho notes that PC makers are scrambling to re-invent the sector with crossover devices that provide both tablet and PC functionality, such as the Asus Transformer Trio, expected to be introduced at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in LAs Vegas next week. The Trio is an Android/Windows 8 dual-boot computer that functions as a touchscreen tablet, a laptop, and a desktop computer. Also predicted for CES: more all-in-one PCs with touchscreens.