Cloud To Go

Does a Decline in PC sales have you Worried?

October 12, 2012 , 0 Frank Gurnee

While PC manufacturers Lenovo and HP fight over who really owns the title of top manufacturer; a controversy that has been sparked by conflicting reports by Gartner and IDC that in one report shows Lenovo edging out HP in overall PC sales and the other showing HP keeping the title. The real news that is shared by both reports shows a roughly 8% decline in overall PC sales.

With PC sales continuing to decline and tablets and mobile devices dominating the market, some MSP’s and IT solution providers are questioning the future of the PC; a device that so many of them built their business on.

The world is turning to mobile information and devices like the Apple iPad and iPhone, the Google Nexus 7 and droid devices, and even the Amazon Kindle Fire, which have revolutionized the way people, connect to the office. This along side with mobile access, cloud delivery, applications, and cloud services; the market for traditional hardware sales seems to be shrinking.

Some analysts are blaming the decline on the upcoming release of Microsoft Windows 8, which is set to be released on October, 26^th. Though major releases have caused declines in the past, the global decline of PC sales seems to point to a broader change in the industry where mobility and cloud solutions are driving the market.

Even Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform is built from a mobile device standpoint, which has brought criticism to the platform from Windows traditionalists. Microsoft continues to provide more information on their expected future and the company is moving into a device and service mode. In his latest letter to shareholders Steve Ballmer refers to the “Consumerization of IT” and notes the cloud and one of Microsoft’s biggest opportunities.

The reality is that IT businesses must redefine themselves in this changing time. It is important to embrace the changes in the industry and becoming an expert in mobility and cloud services will be a necessity to relevancy.

Microsoft is not only hinting but also showing its cards with a go direct future and this is something that is being mimicked across the industry with large vendors. The PC vendors are all driving towards service, mobility, and cloud models, companies like Dell, HP, and Lenovo are not talking about the future of PC’s but instead are all working towards a new era.

Declining PC sales should have you worried…