Is Web site Business Insider engaging in hyperbole when it announced the end of the era of the PC? Maybe. But there’s no question that the boom days of the personal computer are gone. Just look at the growing demand for mobile computing. Consumers today are switching to their tablets and smartphones in increasing numbers to access the Internet. That is the main reason why Business Insider’s editors aren’t too far off in predicting the end of the PC’s computing dominance.
The death of the PC?
Think of how you search the Web. How frequently do you boot up your PC? Now, how often do you log onto Mapquest within your smartphone or check the weather report using your iPad? And you’re hardly alone. People today want their information quickly. And they’re getting it from their smartphones and tablets as they’re on the move. Waiting to get in front of a desktop PC seems rather antiquated today. That’s why, as reported by the Business Insider story, the sales of PCs have been flat since 2009. It’s also why shoppers now buy more smartphones than desktop computers.
Tablets are Hot, Not PCs
If this is the end of the era of the PC, what era is it? The numbers increasingly indicate that we are now in the era of the tablet. Business Insider’s story quotes numbers from Gartner, Strategy Analytics and IDC showing that consumers today are purchasing more tablets compared to are PCs. And consumers aren’t happy to have just one iPad in their homes. The numbers as of July of 2012 show that 32.3 percent of U.S. report that their homes have two iPads, while 10.1 percent had three. That’s pretty impressive demand for something that’s still somewhat new.
The Future
The future looks relatively grim for PC makers. Based on Business Insider estimates, culled from numbers from Nielsen, nearly 40 percent of people over the age of 13 want to purchase a tablet during the next six months. Only about 19 percent of people over the age of 13 said they want to buy a computer within this same period. This trend is even more pronounced with younger consumers. Business Insider claims that more than 75 percent of kids want to buy a tablet in the next six months while only about 30 percent of youngsters wish to buy a computer.