A recent report from IDC discusses one of the potential reasons why PCs are starting to sell less units than tablets. Microsoft’s Windows 8 launch was supposed to be a big deal and a way to enter the post PC era. Well, IDC claims that Win 8 actually made PCs less appealing.
Their numbers show that PC shipments from Q1 2013 registered the steepest decline ever in a single quarter. Only 76.3 million PCs were shipped, signifying a decline of 13.9% compared to Q1 2012. IDC analyst Bob O’Donnell says that Windows 8 is to blame for the decline in PC shipments and maybe the ascension of tablets in the meantime.
The reasons why matters are so confusing and a new software product is pulling down hardware products are clear: the removal of the Start button, the basically useless desktop mode, the huge money invested in marketing, that are surely hurting Microsoft, the huge prices of Windows 8 PCs and tablets and confusing Microsoft strategy with Win RT and Win 8. Is there any room for PCs to recover?
