I'm not surprised. I only use my PC for gaming these days and much prefer to browse and listen to music (via earphones) on my iPad 4, especially as it means I can do so from the comfort of a sofa or my bed. The days of using non-office PCs for browsing and media are numbered IMO with the increased popularity of tablets and smartphones.
I use My Phone is listen to music. I have my PC next to my bed so I can browse the web while not having to move. But I only use it to play games, not much else.
Of course PC sales are down. Casual gamers flock towards tablets because those are far more noob-friendly than a non-intuitive Windows 8 PC. Business users often commute and need portability so tend to buy Laptops, Ultrabooks, Tablets which can link up to a projector or bigger screen. The only people who generally need desktop PC's today are hardcore gamers... and we build our own. So of course PC sales are gonna be down. Plus with Haswell and Ivy Bridge-E just around the corner, plus Nvidia 700 series and AMD 8000 series GPU's, even the gamers will be holding off. Analysts... Princes of the obvious.
Will MS take any notice. I'm not holding my breath. Theres so many things that baffle me with their recent decisions. Not least of which is why they would take their main bread and butter of tried and tested PC OS sales and reduce them by pushing people onto tablets/touchscreens which is a much more open market that they have no good previous with and have failed through similar stupidity. The PC OS is so unappealing they had to sell it at a knockdown price, and even then it still didnt get much traction. Yet still they dont listen and further their stupidity by keeping it unreasonably awkward to use and oh so bland. Are they really so deficient at coding that they cant make a nice looking OS? My brother says his business of reselling and supporting Small Business Server has been shot to pieces as well, as MS have completely removed it from the produce line up! More info http://betanews.com/2012/10/31/who-killed-windows-small-business-server-google/ Theres so much more crap they are pulling, I have to shake my head. I've lost it with them, in the same way I've lost it with the damn European union. Run by imbeciles with ridiculous agendas and no focus on what really matters to the people.
Oh, well almost everyone has a PC and he doesn't need to buy again a newer one, most people out there buy gaming consoles, tablets and phones for all their needs. So they don't have the mood or the money to buy again a whole PC or a laptop. It's already done.
Wouldn't be surprised if SmartPhones like the latest Samsung models have something to do with this. After all, the SGS3 is a pocket-sized computer.
This is exactly what I've been preaching here for a quite a while, despite those who would stare ahead blankly over the precipice. Everyone sees the writing on the wall but the "hardcore" gamers and PC enthusiasts who adamantly believe that the desktop has almost any future at all.
Hardware is so far ahead of the game these days that people don't need to upgrade as often. All the other posts here provide valid reasons as well. Lets face it, most of the human populace cant handle a desktop PC. Its alot easier to "fingerpaint" than it is to type. They are happy looking at a 3x5 inch screen and playing their fav mindless little game or twittering like little song birds, because they can!
cba really surfing on my tablet or phone. just sometimes. i love using my desktop computer tho. this might become niche market in future but well then so be it. I hate to write using anything but mechanical keyboard and so forth.
Trying to write on a touchscreen is a nightmare. Much quicker and smoother using a good old fashioned keyboard.
Just expressing my dismay. A shrinking market must mean higher prices eventually? Or will it have the opposite effect, generating competition and reducing prices!
a tablet docked w/ bluetooth keyboard/mouse is practically a desktop anyway, esp if its hooked up to a monitor. the future of casual computing imo
we all know MS is their own worst enemy as of late, that is nothing new that trend will continue till they shape up or bury them selves which would a major feat on there end if they do.