PC shipments are foreshadowing a sales decline for the first time since 2001, the research, information and analysis company IHS has stated from its IHS iSuppli Compute Platforms Service. IHS’ market intelligence company iSuppli observes upsurges and slides in market trends within the personal computer industry. Desktop computer and computing device shipments are predicted to decline this 2012 after an 11-year chain of supply. iSuppli has released word that the personal computer market is on track to “contract” by as high as 1.2%, down from 352.8 million units delivered in 2011, to 348.7 million.
The advent of more vibrant end user computing and Web content delivery devices, such as tablets are considered part of the reason for the shift in personal computer shipment queues. Web and media content and how each are now spiraled to users in global (and localized) communities, has transported into greater arenas for individuals to access the Internet. The more opportunities for persons to travel the Net and locate information from a variety of computing and mobile computing mediums may predestinate a foreseeable wane of PC demand.
IHS Senior principle analyst for computing systems, Craig Stice notes the PC marketplace may find itself pining for a reversal PC shipment fortune in the upcoming year. “There was great hope through the first half that 2012 would prove to be a rebound year for the PC market,” Stice stated.
“Now three quarters through the year, the usual boost from the back-to-school season appears to be a bust, and both AMD and Intel’s third-quarter outlooks appear to be flat to down.”
Amidst the ebb and flow in economic and eco-geographic consumerism trends, were the further shifts in buyer perceptions following technology and hardware showcases earlier in the year. New computing alternatives, including “convertibles,” emerging mobile platforms, UItrabooks, the largely touted Ivy Bridge processor, and the fall release of Windows 8 were expected to recharge the sluggish demand for PCs.
What transpired by mid-2012 to present was lower consumer valuation — a valuation that has reflected consumer sentiment from needing to acquire the ‘must have,’ to the reliable and stalwart. Economic downturns and buyer interests in long-term performance continue through fall 2012, and research and analysis company IHS acknowledges a less-than-strong sales performance is foreseeable in the upcoming months.
“Optimism has vanished and turned to doubt, and the industry is now training its sights on 2013 to deliver the hoped-for rebound,” IHS analyst Stice observes. “All this is setting the PC market up for its first annual decline since the dot-com bust year of 2001.”
While a growth in PC shipments may occur in the year to follow, IHS marketing intelligence’s iSuppli has reported that there are queries that queue unresolved for the remainder of the PC marketplace sales year.
iSuppli forecasts the PC market’s performance may sources from a number of variables, including:
“How much impact will Windows 8 really have toward boosting the PC market in the fourth quarter?”
“Will continuing global economic concerns neutralize whatever hype or interest has been generated by Ultrabooks?”; and
“Will mobile computing gadgets, such as tablets and smartphones win over PCs during the crucial holiday selling season, taking precious consumer dollars and keeping PC sales at bay?”
IHS observed the viability of computing devices and their performance with newer technologies may buoy consumer interests in the PC marketplace. While the release of Windows 8 may provide an additional vibrato to pique consumer attention, IHS impresses, “Whether a newly configured PC space could then stand up to the powerful smartphone and tablet markets, however, remains to be seen.”
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