Worldwide Is A Bit Different
World wide shipments look interesting for Apple - http://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/09/apple-us-mac-sales-drop-2q15/
The PC market had a horror second quarter, according to new data from analyst outfits Gartner and IDC. Gartner's blaming Windows 10 for the slowdown: the firm reckons buyers are holding on to their cash before the OS drops, in order to buy machines with Microsoft's new baby pre-installed. Others are holding off because the US …
"Despite the extremely loudly publicised free "upgrade"? Fawn on, Gartner."
Yes, despite the upgrade offer. People, especially ordinary, non-Reg reading people, are quite likely to want to avoid the hassle of:
- performing an OS upgrade (with the risk of everything going pear-shaped if the automation fails),
- sorting out any drivers or bundled software that stop working under Win 10,
- having to use Win 8 whilst waiting for the upgrade.
Once you know Win 10 is on its way, it's easier to carry on with your existing kit a bit longer, let the vendors sort out the integration issues and buy something that does what you want when you buy it.
When PC shipments first started declining in 2012 they blamed it on people waiting for Windows 8. Then when they continued to fall they blamed it on negative publicity for Windows 8. Then they came up with a few other reasons, now they think people are waiting for Windows 10?
Man, that's one hell of a lot of pent up demand to account for 3 1/2 years of falling sales! Better rush out and buy stock in Intel, Microsoft, Dell and HP!
>Gartner's blaming Windows 10 for the slowdown: the firm reckons buyers are holding on to their cash before the OS drops, in order to buy machines with Microsoft's new baby pre-installed.
Guess again. People are finally giving up on the PC. The daily malware, monthly patch debacle, difficulty of use just are too much hassle now that they see easier, smoother alternatives. Putting up with that mess isn't worth it anymore just to save that 10 year old copy of Quicken.
Besides, there are better ways to "upgrade" your PC. Attach a 4K TV as a display, swap out the HDD for a SSD instead and you get many times the bang for the buck.
"People are finally giving up on the PC."
I don't know that they're giving up exactly. More like they just don't need to get a new machine. We spent years chasing after more power, but now we've reached the point where the vast majority of users have more than enough power to do everything they want to do, so there's just no incentive to go shopping for a new PC. Besides, those computer things sit at home for the most part, so it's hard to constantly throw your extravagance in your friends' faces. That's why everyone likes smartphones these days!
Actually, you *can* blame Windows 10 for that. For the last six months, anyone who wants to see has been able to look at what Win10 will be like. Apparently, the experience has been enough to convince a few that Sinofsky's vandalism is irreparable and so they might as well buy that Apple machine and see how well it actually works for them.