11 ms·

"1. The iPad eats the consumer PC market. This is happening right now. In the third quarter of 2012, PC sales were down 8 percent on a year-over-year basis wor

"1. The iPad eats the consumer PC market. This is happening right now. In the third quarter of 2012, PC sales were down 8 percent on a year-over-year basis worldwide. In the U.S., sales were down 14 percent. A big chunk of the decline can be attributed to the rise of the iPad." Or just that PC speeds have reached a plateau, and common desktop applications no longer need the latest hardware. The continuous upgrade cycle is slowing. I think that speaks for the 8% on its own. On second glance, this whole article is borderline troll bait.

mtgx 14y ago
I think the sales were down 21% for November compared to a year ago, according to NPD. http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/29/npd-pc-sales-down-microsoft-bears-the-brunt/ http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/29/npd-pc-sales-down-microso... It also seems things are so bad, that they've already started to raise prices on enterprise customers, from 8% to 400%, trying to milk them as much as possible before they lose them: http://semiaccurate.com/2012/12/03/sales-down-microsoft-raises-prices-radically/ http://semiaccurate.com/2012/12/03/sales-down-microsoft-rais...
- recoiledsnake 14y ago
  That doesn't take into account Black Friday sales which more and more people are waiting for before purchasing. http://microsoft-news.com/black-friday-boosts-windows-8-net-use-in-us-above-2/ http://microsoft-news.com/black-friday-boosts-windows-8-net-... "While the days leading up to Black Friday had Windows 8 running below 1% US net usage, Thanks Giving and Black Friday saw a large number of new Windows 8 PCs hitting the market, taking its US share above 2%. While the number reduced over the next week,indicating that Windows 8 users are mainly at home rather than at work, it returned to 2.12% yesterday, indicating the new level was real and not just an artefact of increased usage over the holiday break." Also, Steam's hardware surveys shows that Windows 8 is at 5% of the userbase, despite's Gabe's comments about the "catastrophe". http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/windows-8-thunders-past-mac-os-x-steam http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/windows-8-thunders-past-ma... The lesser said about Charlie's rants and non-sequitir arguments on SemiAccurate(which should be titled SemiWrong) the better. Just reading his previous articles makes me want to add that site to my /etc/hosts blacklist.
  - propercoil 14y ago
    but yet again it is compared to November last year (ppl waited for Black Friday then too), so the statement is valid. you can also take into consideration the simple fact that each year there is a population growth to some degree, So naturally the figures need to be up. But that's macro economics i really don't know alot about, maybe someone else can explain?
s_henry_paulson 14y ago
Second glance? Even on the first glance this article doesn't pass the sniff test. Nobody would predict Windows 8 would "stop" the iPad only a month after release. (not to mention the weird comparison of an operating system to a hardware gadget) "Employees switching away from Windows PCs", and then citing a large iPad purchase by a company. Again, nobody with half a clue would think that these employees are replacing their work computer with an iPad. Comparing the years old Apple Store to the brand new Windows Store, and trying to pretend like the numbers mean something. Saying "office is losing relevance" and then citing absolutely nothing. Saying Microsoft can't continue to invest the profitable Xbox.. because they can't make it the flagship of the company? Saying their "platform business is collapsing", and then citing areas where they are doing well, and then just assuming they're all eventually going to fail. This "writer" needs to be fired.
- recoiledsnake 14y ago
  Not to mention harping on about an IDC report about last quarter Windows Phone sales while WP8 launched only last month and is selling okay according to many reports. People were waiting for WP8 to launch because of both the new OS and hardware but also because WP7 phones can't be upgraded, so sales weren't that great. >This "writer" needs to be fired The "writer" is more likely to get a pay hike or get promoted because his blogspam is garnering a lot of hits from sites like HN because of the headline and content.
- wisty 14y ago
  Also, it's too early to call the Surface. The RT has flopped, but the Pro is very interesting. I can imagine it being very handy for students.
  - shinratdr 14y ago
    No tablet with less battery life than a cheap laptop will be handy for anyone.
    - enraged_camel 14y ago
marshray 14y ago
How many people do you know who have an iPad but not a PC (or a Mac)? My sample is completely non-scientific, but I can't think of anyone I know like that. My impression is iOS and Android are taking eyeball-time and consumer purchasing money away from PCs, but I just don't see them replacing PCs any more than iPhones or Playstations did. Yet. What am I missing?
- brigade 14y ago
  I know a number of old people that never learned how to use or were never confident in using a desktop OS that now only use tablets. My father as well, but for other reasons. Also think of how long the shift from desktops to laptops took; for a decade they were just secondary machines and everyone who had a laptop also had a desktop. Now... the only person I know to even own a desktop built it himself 6 years ago and stopped upgrading it altogether a few years ago in favor of laptops. A similar shift to tablets isn't as inevitable as the shift to laptops was (in hindsight), but if it's happening it's proceeding in much the same way, only faster.
  - marshray 14y ago
    I think as long as people have asses we will have chairs, and as long as there are chairs there will be desks and we will want to use our hands at them. So I don't think the physical keyboard is going away, it will still be the most efficient way to bang out a school paper, computer code, or a thoughtful business email. The screen we prefer to look at while sitting down will probably always be larger than the one we prefer to carry around.
    - njharman 14y ago
      > it will still be the most efficient way to bang out a school paper, computer code, or a thoughtful business email Those are niches. Most computer use is and will be going fwd, consumption. Majority of creation will be photos/videos/minor typing (txting, tweets, short emails)/other forms that don't require keyboard.
pixie_ 14y ago
I just tried the iPad mini the other night and was impressed by the office suite included with it. To people who have used it, how does it compare to MS Office?
- nathos 14y ago
  There's no office suite included with any iPad. Perhaps you tried the iWork applications from Apple that they sell for $10/each?
- Someone 14y ago
  I guess you are refering to Pages, Numbers and Keynote. These are not included with the iPad, but sold separately (at $9.99 each) Compared to MS Office (my comparison is desktop MS Office; I haven't even seen its tablet version), they have fewer features (fewer than Mac OS X counterparts, which already have fewer features). Whether that is an issue for you depends on your requirements. Major lacking features are the ability to handle large documents and macros. They also are worse in importing MS Office files than MS Office itself. On an original iPad, they also are fairly sluggy. I wouldn't write large texts in Pages, for instance, or create large spreadsheets in Numbers. Reading and revising existing not-too-large files is OK, though. On the plus side, they look better and are somewhat easier to use (although the iOS versions, IMO, suffer from the limited interface that tablets offer) Integration with iCloud for document storage and synchronization is somewhat spotty, but IMO has gotten better recently (my experience is syncing to Mac OS X Numbers and Pages; I have never synced with Windows or with Office documents)
adventured 14y ago
The iPad isn't even remotely a threat. Android will dominate tablets for the same reason it is dominating smart phones. Android tablets will outsell the iPad five to one within a few years. The volume that Android tablets will bring to market will, however, remove volume from the laptop market.
w1ntermute 14y ago
> On second glance, this whole article is borderline troll bait. If you look closely, the article was written by Business Insider[0], which is not what I would call a trustworthy source. 0: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Insider http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Insider
- ceejayoz 14y ago
  Yeah, I'd be skeptical of what's essentially investment advice from Henry Blodget.
MaysonL 14y ago
Or just that PC speeds have reached a plateau, and common desktop applications no longer need the latest hardware. The continuous upgrade cycle is slowing. I think that speaks for the 8% on its own. Except that Mac sales keep rising...
- jpxxx 14y ago
  Yes and no. They were marginally down YOY last quarter. There is a possibility that they're stalling too. Time will tell.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
ekianjo 14y ago
Totally agree. This article is pure BS. I especially loved the part where the author says that, by using non-Windows devices, companies would consider switching to Macs for work. Yeah, sounds like the author has never seen how companies buy computers en masse. Usually they go for the cheapest models available. And those aren't Macs.

mtgx 14y ago

I think the sales were down 21% for November compared to a year ago, according to NPD. http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/29/npd-pc-sales-down-microsoft-bears-the-brunt/ http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/29/npd-pc-sales-down-microso... It also seems things are so bad, that they've already started to raise prices on enterprise customers, from 8% to 400%, trying to milk them as much as possible before they lose them: http://semiaccurate.com/2012/12/03/sales-down-microsoft-raises-prices-radically/ http://semiaccurate.com/2012/12/03/sales-down-microsoft-rais...

recoiledsnake 14y ago
That doesn't take into account Black Friday sales which more and more people are waiting for before purchasing. http://microsoft-news.com/black-friday-boosts-windows-8-net-use-in-us-above-2/ http://microsoft-news.com/black-friday-boosts-windows-8-net-... "While the days leading up to Black Friday had Windows 8 running below 1% US net usage, Thanks Giving and Black Friday saw a large number of new Windows 8 PCs hitting the market, taking its US share above 2%. While the number reduced over the next week,indicating that Windows 8 users are mainly at home rather than at work, it returned to 2.12% yesterday, indicating the new level was real and not just an artefact of increased usage over the holiday break." Also, Steam's hardware surveys shows that Windows 8 is at 5% of the userbase, despite's Gabe's comments about the "catastrophe". http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/windows-8-thunders-past-mac-os-x-steam http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/windows-8-thunders-past-ma... The lesser said about Charlie's rants and non-sequitir arguments on SemiAccurate(which should be titled SemiWrong) the better. Just reading his previous articles makes me want to add that site to my /etc/hosts blacklist.
- propercoil 14y ago
  but yet again it is compared to November last year (ppl waited for Black Friday then too), so the statement is valid. you can also take into consideration the simple fact that each year there is a population growth to some degree, So naturally the figures need to be up. But that's macro economics i really don't know alot about, maybe someone else can explain?

s_henry_paulson 14y ago

Second glance? Even on the first glance this article doesn't pass the sniff test. Nobody would predict Windows 8 would "stop" the iPad only a month after release. (not to mention the weird comparison of an operating system to a hardware gadget) "Employees switching away from Windows PCs", and then citing a large iPad purchase by a company. Again, nobody with half a clue would think that these employees are replacing their work computer with an iPad. Comparing the years old Apple Store to the brand new Windows Store, and trying to pretend like the numbers mean something. Saying "office is losing relevance" and then citing absolutely nothing. Saying Microsoft can't continue to invest the profitable Xbox.. because they can't make it the flagship of the company? Saying their "platform business is collapsing", and then citing areas where they are doing well, and then just assuming they're all eventually going to fail. This "writer" needs to be fired.

recoiledsnake 14y ago
Not to mention harping on about an IDC report about last quarter Windows Phone sales while WP8 launched only last month and is selling okay according to many reports. People were waiting for WP8 to launch because of both the new OS and hardware but also because WP7 phones can't be upgraded, so sales weren't that great. >This "writer" needs to be fired The "writer" is more likely to get a pay hike or get promoted because his blogspam is garnering a lot of hits from sites like HN because of the headline and content.
wisty 14y ago
Also, it's too early to call the Surface. The RT has flopped, but the Pro is very interesting. I can imagine it being very handy for students.
- shinratdr 14y ago
  No tablet with less battery life than a cheap laptop will be handy for anyone.
  - enraged_camel 14y ago

marshray 14y ago

How many people do you know who have an iPad but not a PC (or a Mac)? My sample is completely non-scientific, but I can't think of anyone I know like that. My impression is iOS and Android are taking eyeball-time and consumer purchasing money away from PCs, but I just don't see them replacing PCs any more than iPhones or Playstations did. Yet. What am I missing?

brigade 14y ago
I know a number of old people that never learned how to use or were never confident in using a desktop OS that now only use tablets. My father as well, but for other reasons. Also think of how long the shift from desktops to laptops took; for a decade they were just secondary machines and everyone who had a laptop also had a desktop. Now... the only person I know to even own a desktop built it himself 6 years ago and stopped upgrading it altogether a few years ago in favor of laptops. A similar shift to tablets isn't as inevitable as the shift to laptops was (in hindsight), but if it's happening it's proceeding in much the same way, only faster.
- marshray 14y ago
  I think as long as people have asses we will have chairs, and as long as there are chairs there will be desks and we will want to use our hands at them. So I don't think the physical keyboard is going away, it will still be the most efficient way to bang out a school paper, computer code, or a thoughtful business email. The screen we prefer to look at while sitting down will probably always be larger than the one we prefer to carry around.
  - njharman 14y ago
    > it will still be the most efficient way to bang out a school paper, computer code, or a thoughtful business email Those are niches. Most computer use is and will be going fwd, consumption. Majority of creation will be photos/videos/minor typing (txting, tweets, short emails)/other forms that don't require keyboard.

pixie_ 14y ago

I just tried the iPad mini the other night and was impressed by the office suite included with it. To people who have used it, how does it compare to MS Office?

nathos 14y ago
There's no office suite included with any iPad. Perhaps you tried the iWork applications from Apple that they sell for $10/each?
Someone 14y ago
I guess you are refering to Pages, Numbers and Keynote. These are not included with the iPad, but sold separately (at $9.99 each) Compared to MS Office (my comparison is desktop MS Office; I haven't even seen its tablet version), they have fewer features (fewer than Mac OS X counterparts, which already have fewer features). Whether that is an issue for you depends on your requirements. Major lacking features are the ability to handle large documents and macros. They also are worse in importing MS Office files than MS Office itself. On an original iPad, they also are fairly sluggy. I wouldn't write large texts in Pages, for instance, or create large spreadsheets in Numbers. Reading and revising existing not-too-large files is OK, though. On the plus side, they look better and are somewhat easier to use (although the iOS versions, IMO, suffer from the limited interface that tablets offer) Integration with iCloud for document storage and synchronization is somewhat spotty, but IMO has gotten better recently (my experience is syncing to Mac OS X Numbers and Pages; I have never synced with Windows or with Office documents)

adventured 14y ago

The iPad isn't even remotely a threat. Android will dominate tablets for the same reason it is dominating smart phones. Android tablets will outsell the iPad five to one within a few years. The volume that Android tablets will bring to market will, however, remove volume from the laptop market.

w1ntermute 14y ago

> On second glance, this whole article is borderline troll bait. If you look closely, the article was written by Business Insider[0], which is not what I would call a trustworthy source. 0: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Insider http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Insider

ceejayoz 14y ago
Yeah, I'd be skeptical of what's essentially investment advice from Henry Blodget.

MaysonL 14y ago

Or just that PC speeds have reached a plateau, and common desktop applications no longer need the latest hardware. The continuous upgrade cycle is slowing. I think that speaks for the 8% on its own. Except that Mac sales keep rising...

jpxxx 14y ago
Yes and no. They were marginally down YOY last quarter. There is a possibility that they're stalling too. Time will tell.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]

ekianjo 14y ago

Totally agree. This article is pure BS. I especially loved the part where the author says that, by using non-Windows devices, companies would consider switching to Macs for work. Yeah, sounds like the author has never seen how companies buy computers en masse. Usually they go for the cheapest models available. And those aren't Macs.