Are Computer Sales Slipping?
Desktop Computer Who ever would have thunk it? Desktop computers sales have slowed down. At least that is what we are being told by the financial experts and the companies that make desktops. I for one do not understand why they are so surprised? If you look at this rationally, most households already have computers that are capable of surfing the web, reading email and doing word processing and that is basically what most people do. Laptops can all do that now, and netbooks are at the power point where laptops were a few years ago, but they are still capable of doing the same word processing, reading emails and also surfing. I think the real problem is that the operating systems on most computers are holding them back. Sure we now have Windows 7 and it is a lot fancier, but what does it really do that we couldn't do before? Some people say that we should all be running a 64 bit operating system and Windows 7 also comes in that flavor along with the usual 32 bit one, but what does this mean to the average person? Absolutely nothing. 64 bit operating systems are faster and allow for far more computer memory, but there are not a lot of software programs out there that can take advantage of this. Even if there were, most people are satisfied with what they have and until a major breakthrough comes along, they are not going to replace their desktop computers. Then there is the other side of the coin. Laptops have become powerful enough that they are all the average person needs. Wires are becoming a thing of the past and as this happens it becomes even easier for the laptop people.
Laptop Computer You can now set up your laptop and not have to hook it up with wires to anything, making it even more portable, because you can just turn it off and pack it up. When you want to use it like a desktop again, it will still be hooked up to the internet via a wireless connection and to your printer with a wireless connection. Power users will not agree with what I am saying, but I am not referring to them. I myself am a power user and I feel that a desktop is necessary for me and a lot more comfortable to use. I have multiple monitors and assorted devices going into my desktop and I need every bit of power I can get and desktops are still more powerful than laptops. I run a quad core system. I know that I am right about most people having the capabilities that they need already, because I have talked to many average people and they have all told me the same thing, that their desktop computers are fine right now. If I were asked what might revive desktop sales, I think that I would have to say is that for the average person, it would have to be something that utilized a much larger monitor. I say this because laptops can only get so big and then they become a problem in many different ways. Who would want to lug around a laptop computer with a 25 inch screen, even if it was possible to get it to run for hours on batteries? It is also being said that high priced mp3 player sales have slowed down. Well you don't have to be a genius to notice all the cheap mp3 players around. Many people drop and/or lose their mp3 players, or damage them in other ways. It is much less of a loss to get a cheap player, after all they all sound pretty good. It is obvious that when you flood the market with cheap devices that are capable of doing the same as the expensive ones, even if they have more limited storage, that this can not help the sales of the expensive devices.
PDA Look what has happened to the sales of PDAs. These are those Personal Digital Assistants that used to be so popular years ago. They have all but disappeared, although the Itouch seems to be bucking this trend somewhat, but how long will that last? It is also true that many people do not consider the Itouch to be a true PDA, but I do not agree on this point. Digital phones have become so sophisticated that they have taken over the PDA market. They perform the same functions as PDAs and run operating systems as the PDAs did. Along with this, many contain a camera. Most people would rather have a phone that has all the functions of a PDA than just a PDA, because they don't want to have to carry two devices on their person and who can blame them?
Cell Phone There are exceptions to this rule such as myself. I am not a big cell phone user so I use the Go phone. That is a phone where you buy your minutes ahead of time. The phone certainly is not fancy, but what do you expect for under $20.00? Because I carry such a simple phone, I usually carry my Dell PDA also. The PDA is capable of playing games, word processing using a small virtual keyboard and even browsing the Internet. What I believe with electronics is that the manufacturers never seem to realize that there is a point where the electronics get good enough for most people and at that point, they are not going to want to replace them unless some new earth shattering application comes out that can only be run on a new type of device. I have been saying this for years and especially about computers. One of the things that seems to be driving the laptop industry is the fact that many laptops break quite fast and need to be replaced. I know many people who have had to buy new ones after only a couple of years. They usually last until the warranty period is finished. I have never had this problem, but my laptop is custom built and I have never dropped it or banged it around. I must admit that the computer industry has tried to get more desktops sold by trying to sell the idea that everyone should hook up a desktop to their television so that they could stream videos to their living room. I really don't know any average people that have gone for this idea. Even I do not do it, but I could easily and without a computer. I have a PlayStation hooked up to the tv and it has an Internet connection. The thing is that I have a large monitor on my desktop and it serves me fine for viewing streaming video, so I just never bothered. Will new devices come out that we will all want? I am sure that they will. I remember when everyone had to have a stereo in the 1960s, Most people thought that this was the ultimate electronic device and it wasn't even hooked up to a television in those days. The electronic calculator came out and most people wanted one and they were expensive. I am talking about hundreds of dollars for a hand held calculator They kept drifting down in price until today, where you easily find one in any dollar store. When computers came out for the home, almost no one bought them because there was no software and the machines were very underpowered. As time went by, they became more in demand and today you would be hard pressed to find a household without one. This was not so much because of the devices but because of applications like the Internet and email. Will computers continue to sell well? I think that the answer is that somewhere along the line even sales of laptops will slow, the real question is how much power does the average person need to do the type of things that average people do? |
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