What it is: PC sales keep dropping each quarter, yet Macintosh sales keep steadily climbing.
There are two reasons why PC sales keep dropping every quarter despite promises such as Windows 10 or Intel’s new Skylake processors. The main reason is that in the old days, you had to use a PC for everything from browsing the Internet to getting mapping directions to sending and receiving messages. Now you can do all that on a smartphone, which the iPhone helped to define. The iPhone essentially put a computer ion your pocket that you could take everywhere you go. With so many people relying on smartphones, there’s much less need for buying or using a PC.
A second reason why PC sales keep dropping is because PCs are still too complicated. Practically anyone can use a smartphone with little hassle. PCs are different. Not only do you have to watch out for malware and constantly run anti-virus programs, but you also have to deal with crashes and maintenance problems such as disk fragmentation or Windows registry errors. Most of the time a PC works fine but when it doesn’t, trying to fix it can be too much for most people.
In comparison, a smartphone rarely crashes or needs maintenance. You just turn it on and use it. PCs aren’t like that, which is why fewer people want to use, let alone buy, a new PC. After all, why buy something that will add more frustration to your life when you can avoid it and buy something that will add more enjoyment and less frustration in your life?
What people want is a computer that they can use reliably like a toaster or a car. Most of the time when you use a toaster or a car, it just works. That’s what people want in a computer and that’s why smartphones and tablets are so popular over PCs.
Yet PCs are still necessary for creating long word processor documents, spreadsheets, or databases. Since smartphones or tablets still aren’t powerful enough for this type of work, the choice boils down to a PC or a Mac. Since a Mac requires much less maintenance than a PC, that gives the Mac an edge. Despite the higher initial cost, more people prefer getting a Mac than paying the lower initial cost but long-term higher cost of lost time by constantly having to maintain a PC.
Given a choice between a PC or a Mac, a Mac is generally easier to use. That’s why Mac sales keep creeping upwards from former PC users switching over. That’s why PC sales keep dropping because alternatives are popping up with ChromeBooks and Macs being simpler and easier choices than a typical Windows PC.
The concept of a computer isn’t going away because people will always need computers. The big difference is that a Windows PC is no longer the only or best option available. Computers aren’t going away. Windows PCs are. It’s happening slowly over time, but it’s happening.
Tomorrow’s computers will likely be mostly ChromeBooks (for simplicity) and Macs (for more complicated tasks) along with a heavy mix of smartphones and tablets. Windows PCs will still be around but they’ve already lost their dominant position in the marketplace and they’ll likely never regain it again.
To read more about slumping PC sales and steadily increasing Mac sales, click here.