Even we are not forecasting the End of the PC. But its ‘Golden Age’, which started in the late 1970s, came of age with the launch of the IBM PC in 1981 and then was ruled by the Wintel alliance ever since, is now well and truly over.
According to IDC, worldwide PC shipments in Q4 2012 were down 6.4% at 89.8 units on Q4 2011. PC shipments in the US were similarly down in Q4 and off 7% for the year. The first decline in the holiday quarter in a long while.
My credit card bill for Christmas purchases of tablet devices gives stark evidence for the reasons. But this downturn must be of great concern to Microsoft in particular. They launched Windows 8 in Oct 12 so might have expected a boost to PC sales. Afterall most users don’t upgrade operating systems – they buy new PCs with it pre installed. (Well, that’s been my buying pattern) Windows 8 on a PC is a pretty dire experience. It might be fine on the Surface but I, for one, believe that a GUI that works on a touch screen tablet is not what I want to use on my keyboard/mouse driven PC. Anyway, I am very happy with the tried and tested interface I use for all the ‘boring’ stuff (like accounts, preparing presentations, writing long reports etc). I have no desire to relearn this.