I wouldn’t mind if PCs were being replaced with devices that weren’t walled gardens. Until that happens I’m keeping my thinkpads and PCs.
Aren’t they likely to dip just before a new version of windows is released?
Oooh oooh oooh me me me! It was … Gateway, right?
Dude, you are forgetting a Dell!!
From the commentary whenever this comes up, it seems that everyone still using Windows is either gaming or stuck on it at work; everyone else is using some other thing.
Thanks to Linux I can keep old Dells running pretty good.
Does anyone report on DIY building? Purchasing of components to EUs? I’d be curious to see that information. I have a nephew who is 18-ish and grew up with console games. Still plays console games, but about 3 years ago, became really interested in PC gaming, as I believe some of his friends did as well. He wanted to learn how to build his own, so I did an original build and I think one upgrade with him and he’s off and running at this point.
Dude, NOBODY forgets Adele!
It’s very odd to equate this pattern with the death of the PC. If sales stay on the decline then it’s obviously the death, but if they rebound again then we are probably seeing the new normal for a product that doesn’t need to be replaced as often as it once did.
Practically everyone who wants a computer has one, and combined with decreased system requirements this has lead to an increased device lifespan. It’s not like PCs are being replaced with tablets.
My co-worker’s college-sophomore son, who I never thought of as a techie, suddenly got the DIY bug. He’s putting together a gaming server for his friends. I donated some parts from my spares drawer.
That, and root the crap out of the rest.
…laptops, the vendors for some unknown reason keep making them unnecessarily thin, and then have to do compromises with power as the thermal management won’t cut it… so the newer machines may be half-inch thinner but they also pack less oomph than the older ones.
A huge chunk of what most people use computers for can be done cheaper and more simply with smart phones and tablets. And, significantly, gaming consoles.
So this isn’t remotely surprising.
OTOH calling this the death of the PC is nonsense. Anything but the simplest coding requires a workstation; some of the developers I work with have desktop systems with four monitors. Business folks and managers are still going to buy and use laptops.
No, it isn’t. Steve Jobs conceived of the computer-as-appliance over thirty years ago with the Macintosh.
It made sense before tablets were around. These days, the ultraportable box has been checked.
When you get past two inches thick, you are in the land of diminishing returns. You have to start making compromises against things that matter - and you end up with not only poor thermal management but also atrocious keyboards. (Can I have Cherry switches for my laptop? Please? Pretty please?)
So what is a PC? They don’t define it in the article, and include Apple as a PC manufacturer. I remember when it was PC vs. Mac and now Mac is a PC!
Also, one of the research companies includes tablets in their numbers, so it’s further muddied.
Is a PC a computer with a full hardware keyboard and separate monitor?
Tadaaa! 
You see a walled garden, I see a computer that will never get infected with malware, that will always be safe and friendly for the Jessicas of the world to use.
It was marketing. Macs have been PCs since 2006.
