Apple Captures 19.5% of Global PC and Tablet Market in Q4 2013

[tdale]

Actually, I think we are getting pretty close to agreement here. There is no doubt that tablets perform most of the routine functions of a PC. Therefore, with limited tech $, some folks are opting to purchase a Tablet rather than a PC when their computer gets old. There can be a lot of reasons for this. They might have more than one PC in the house and decide to share it with a spouse. Or, their employer provides them with a work computer and their personal computing needs are simple. It doesn't really matter. The truth is Tablets are cutting into PC sales. Like I said before, the iPad essentially eliminated an entire class of laptop...netbooks, so they obviously play in the PC market. While it is easy to demonstrate that folks are often purchasing Tablets as a substitute or replacement for a PC, I think it would be very difficult to prove that people are purchasing Smartphones as replacements for PCs.

Now if we can agree to the above, then it is appropriate to chart PC and Tablet sales together, since they share a common market. After all, two products can have very different technical capabilities but share the same market. For example, RVs include motor homes and travel trailers. Trailers don't even have engines and must be towed, but I am sure somebody tracks total RV sales in the US.

Re my smartphone comment, I wasn't suggesting they are buying smartphones to replace a PC. What I meant was that buying a replacement PC or upgrading it is costly. When tablets and smartphone came to the market these are extra costs, and IMO people prefer to spend their limited IT budget on tablets and smartphones, and delayng the spend on the PC. Thus PC sales decline.

While we generally agree on most issues, where we don't is the extent that tablets are in fact replacing the PC. I don't believe that it is common to replace a PC with a tablet, I believe that the tablet is an extra device, to take outside, on a trip, in bed, on the couch to do basic tasks. I would be extremely surprised if 10% actually replaced the PC. I'd pick 5% or less.

The Surface would have a higher figure for sure as it is a full PC in touchscreen form, so that is a PC. As its small, its also a tablet.

The only way to incorporate tablets in the PC statistic, is to advise the numbers of tablets and the numbers of PC's (laptops, desktops, netbooks.)
AND to survey 2000 people who own a tablet to ask, have you moved from a PC to a tablet in full, or for 95% of the time?

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Re my smartphone comment, I wasn't suggesting they are buying smartphones to replace a PC. What I meant was that buying a replacement PC or upgrading it is costly. When tablets and smartphone came to the market these are extra costs, and IMO people prefer to spend their limited IT budget on tablets and smartphones, and delayng the spend on the PC. Thus PC sales decline.

While we generally agree on most issues, where we don't is the extent that tablets are in fact replacing the PC. I don't believe that it is common to replace a PC with a tablet, I believe that the tablet is an extra device, to take outside, on a trip, in bed, on the couch to do basic tasks. I would be extremely surprised if 10% actually replaced the PC. I'd pick 5% or less.

The Surface would have a higher figure for sure as it is a full PC in touchscreen form, so that is a PC. As its small, its also a tablet.

The only way to incorporate tablets in the PC statistic, is to advise the numbers of tablets and the numbers of PC's (laptops, desktops, netbooks.)
AND to survey 2000 people who own a tablet to ask, have you moved from a PC to a tablet in full, or for 95% of the time?

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9242867/Few_use_tablets_to_replace_laptops

Oct 2013, small survey showed 8.7% replaced the PC with a tablet. I now agree for 8.7% of tablet sales can be included in a PC statistic.

 

[Mainsail]

And, I agree that the chart would be more informative if it was displayed as a stacked bar chart that delineated the Tablet and PC components.