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Is the desktop PC dying off?

Google thinks the desktop PC is moribund, but has anyone told the old beige box?

By Stuart Andrews, 19 Mar 2010 at 14:12

As long as this process continues, argues Dell’s Curtis Campbell, “it is unlikely that desktop PCs will be replaced wholesale any time soon.”

And while we’ll all spend more time searching and using social networking sites on our mobiles and word processing from our laptops in the future, the desktop PC has one final ace in the whole: you can always add more performance when you need it.

“Desktop PCs continue to be attractive to business users from a scalability perspective,” says Campbell. “Support for dual discrete graphics cards, high performance hard drives, wireless connectivity and numerous other productivity enhancing options is also a benefit; these offerings are less available in portable devices.”

If your desktop PC can’t do the job, you can adapt it. If your netbook can’t? Well, it’s time to move on.

These are tough times for the desktop PC, and the days of one on every corporate desk are over, never to return. All the same, reports of its demise are, for now, exaggerated.

As long as users need to create, and not just consumer content, they’ll be needed. As long as users need more application power than a smartphone or netbook can offer, they’ll be in demand.

While cloud-based services could one day make the hardware platform irrelevant for those who want to communicate or write a memo, it’s unlikely they’ll do the same for those who need to create or manage those services, analyse a mass of scientific data or produce a good-looking 50 page report.

As long as that holds true, the desktop PC will still have a place.

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3 comments

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Horses for courses

It is fairly obvious that we are moving increasingly into a "mixed" device environment and the Desktop PC will remain part of that. I do a lot of computer graphics and content creation, for me only a desktop will do, to visit clients with roughs or finished examples, I use a laptop as a playback device. But if all you need is typical 'office' type applications, mail and web browsing or, Cloud Computing, a netbook or laptop is all you need. The problem with our, the IT Business is people always looking for the "next big thing" which they then promote as the "only thing" - silly, it will all be different in 2 years time although unit costs will have risen in real terms.

By popskihaynes on Tuesday Mar 23

I Totally Agree with"popskihaynes "

I agree with popskihaynes there are horses for courses and the desktop is mine I too require a powerful machine for design projects I use a laptop in the field purely as a visual aid, I fully understand that there are loads of gimmick derivatives out in the world at the moment making an absolute fortune with the "latest must haves" most of them nailed onto a telephone but NONE of these could be of any use to me. Like lots of other professional people I require processing power and comfort a min 22" screen to create the requirement to earn a living, and believe me there are millions of grafters out there that require the same.

By Richard_Turpin on Tuesday Apr 13

Desktop replacement

I really don't think you have thought this one through? I am partially sighted my large screen mobile is at best enough to make a phone call.My desktop is my lifeline.With western nations having a higher demographic shift to high averages with accompanied sight deterioration it would be correct to say sales of small devices would of course decline with the shift in the market.Clearly Nokia has realised this to their detriment.Clearly Apple thinks that the IPAD will compliment the desktop but not replace it.One of the reasons for your conclusions would be that more mobile units are been sold to compliment the main desktop,consumer spending is falling and mobile devices are cheaper to purchase.Employment is going down so desktops are not demanded at this point in the cycle.

By blooskys on Saturday Jul 31