iPad Drives Apple to Perch Atop List of Top-Selling PC Manufacturers

[dgree03]

LOL, so again the decline in laptop/desktop sales without the iPad included, means that the entire world just banded together in 4Q 2011 and said "we're not buying computers anymore"? and not because they were replacing it with something else?

I'm pretty sure my "assumption" is the logical one.

You are trying to simplify something that cannot be that simple.

Again, not everyone who buys an iPad REPLACES something like a desktop and laptop. I have a few of both in my home, but I also have an iPad, I bought an iMac Oct 2011. Guess what? I will still buy another desktop or laptop in 3 years, and I might even replace my iPad 2 with a 3 or 4 or 5.

The numbers could mean that people are simply buying the iPad as a companion to their current desktop or laptop. There are also many other factors that you fail to see.

 

[voonyx]

You are trying to simplify something that cannot be that simple.

Again, not everyone who buys an iPad REPLACES something like a desktop and laptop. I have a few of both in my home, but I also have an iPad, I bought an iMac Oct 2011. Guess what? I will still buy another desktop or laptop in 3 years, and I might even replace my iPad 2 with a 3 or 4 or 5.

The numbers could mean that people are simply buying the iPad as a companion to their current desktop or laptop. There are also many other factors that you fail to see.

Not simplifying anything at all. I never said that "everyone who buys an iPad REPLACES something like a desktop and laptop". What I did say are that people are replacing their desktops and laptops with iPads, as evidenced by the numbers.

If an entire industry declines in a quarter, that means people are not buying as much of that product as they used to. But that doesn't mean people are not buying any products at all. If you include iPads in the PC market, the industry grows 16%. That's not some minuscule "just brush it off" amount. That clearly indicates that instead of buying laptops/desktops, some people (not all) are buying iPads instead.

Again, unless of course you're saying that there was a collective agreement by the world's population to just stop buying laptops/desktops.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

It seems to be the only group arguing that the iPad belongs in the PC category seem to be the Apple cheerleaders.
You should see the arguments here when netbooks caused Apple to go down in market share and hurt them. The same crew screamed how netbooks were not PC and yeah netbooks are weak for that category but come on iPads are a joke in it.

Simple fact is Apple makes headlines doing this. They get the cheer leading crew posting leaks to said reviews all over the place which in turn pushes up their search rankings (more eyeballs) plus more people read it then.

It crap statics they are using to get that by adding extra stuff into the catigory to make Apple number 1. If it was ANY other company that was selling the iPad they would make sure they stayed separate like they should be because it would not get head lines like Apple going to number 1.
They are willing to devalue and degrade the reports for nothing more than head lines. They do not care about creditably any more.

 

[voonyx]

It seems to be the only group arguing that the iPad belongs in the PC category seem to be the Apple cheerleaders.
You should see the arguments here when netbooks caused Apple to go down in market share and hurt them. The same crew screamed how netbooks were not PC and yeah netbooks are weak for that category but come on iPads are a joke in it.

Simple fact is Apple makes headlines doing this. They get the cheer leading crew posting leaks to said reviews all over the place which in turn pushes up their search rankings (more eyeballs) plus more people read it then.

It crap statics they are using to get that by adding extra stuff into the catigory to make Apple number 1. If it was ANY other company that was selling the iPad they would make sure they stayed separate like they should be because it would not get head lines like Apple going to number 1.
They are willing to devalue and degrade the reports for nothing more than head lines. They do not care about creditably any more.

Yep, and the only group who don't want it to be in the same category are the 4 or 5 people who do this in EVERY thread where Apple shows some success. The same people who lump hundreds of phones from different OEMs into one group as a way to show market share.

Like someone said before, you dont have to be a psychic to know who's going to come into these threads and try to downplay what's happening...

 

[dukebound85]

It seems to be the only group arguing that the iPad belongs in the PC category seem to be the Apple cheerleaders.
You should see the arguments here when netbooks caused Apple to go down in market share and hurt them. The same crew screamed how netbooks were not PC and yeah netbooks are weak for that category but come on iPads are a joke in it.

Haha I remember that sentiment/argument. Whatever argument helps to bring a point across is the one that is presented

 

[Renzatic]

LOL, so again the decline in laptop/desktop sales without the iPad included, means that the entire world just banded together in 4Q 2011 and said "we're not buying computers anymore"? and not because they were replacing it with something else?

There wasn't a decline in overall PC sales last year. Individual companies have seen a bit of a hit, but the market itself is still on that same plateau-with-a-slight-uphill-grade march. Pretty much what you'd expect from a mature, saturated market.

REDACTED! It went down half a percent!

It seems to be the only group arguing that the iPad belongs in the PC category seem to be the Apple cheerleaders.

I'm not exactly the most ardent, frothing at the mouth, Apple can do no wrong cheerleader here, but I do kind of consider the iPad to be an extension of the PC market. Or an extension of the laptop/netbook market if you want to get specific about it.

Why? Because you can do about the same thing on them as a low cost netbook. Want to play around on the internet? Watch movies? Do some light file editing? Play some games? There you go. An iPad can pretty much do that now, and will only do them better as time goes along. To me, the only real differentiating factor between the two is the interface.

But you might ask if you can do graphic editing on an iPad. Eh. To an extent. Right now, it's a little limited on that front. You've got lite versions of Photoshop, a few goofy little 3D sculpting programs, stuff like that. But ultimately, there's nothing specifically stopping it from eventually becoming a fairly capable form factor for it. Hell, I wouldn't want to do much graphics editing on a Netbook, but that doesn't make them any less of a PC than a Mac Pro.

What about editing Office documents? The only thing stopping it now is the lack of software support. Once that's there, there's nothing holding you back from editing to your hearts content. Other than the fact that it isn't the best place for it. But, once again, neither is a netbook. And a netbook is a PC.

And this is coming from someone who was one of those people who were initially screaming "IT'S A GIANT IPHONE! THAT SUCKS". Once I saw the potential for it, I changed my tune pretty quick. It's a PC. It can do some very PC-like things just as well as a small PC can. And it'll eventually replace the PC for some people. It's just not a PC as people traditionally know it.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Haha I remember that sentiment/argument. Whatever argument helps to bring a point across is the one that is presented

I though it is sad because I skimmed back threw some of those post and it was tricky to find them as searching for netbooks bring up a lot of stuff here but some like I it seem to be the biggest Apple chearleaders at the time back then arguing against netbooks being PC is the same crew now saying iPads should be PC.

I have always called the netbooks weak as PCs but much closer than iPad.

There is overlap in the markets but the iPad is not eating into laptop sells. It is eating into netbook sales as that is were there is overlap but I find with a tablet it not effecting my PC usage but it is greatly effecting my smart phone usage. That is instead of surfing the net or check email from the couch with my phone I will use my tablet. When I wake up in the morning or before I go to sleep I used to do some lite surfing with my phone or iPod and now I use my Galaxy Tab.

Tablets and PC are seperat markets right now. The OS are not to the point were they really bridge the gap. The first OS I see really truly bridging that gap would be Windows 8 but iOS is by far the worse at it.

 

[voonyx]

There wasn't a decline in overall PC sales last year. Individual companies have seen a bit of a hit, but the market itself is still on that same plateau-with-a-slight-uphill-grade march. Pretty much what you'd expect from a mature, saturated market.

From the Canalys release and also quoted in the OP:

Overall, the total client PC market, including desktops, netbooks, notebooks, and pads grew 16% year-on-year. Excluding pads, the client PC market declined 0.4%

Emphasis mine. So yes, there was a decline in overall PC sales if you exclude the pads. In fact, the article does include Kindle Fires and Nooks in the analysis, so seems the detractors were upset about nothing...now that those are "PC"s, we'll hear a different tune, right?

 

[Renzatic]

Emphasis mine. So yes, there was a decline in overall PC sales if you exclude the pads. In fact, the article does include Kindle Fires and Nooks in the analysis, so seems the detractors were upset about nothing...now that those are "PC"s, we'll hear a different tune, right?

HALF A PERCENT! THE PC ARE DOOMED! This is it, people. It's all downhill from here. We're on the other side of that thin red line.

Thanks for opening my eyes on this, Voonyx. I'll retract my previous statement.

 

[voonyx]

HALF A PERCENT! THE PC ARE DOOMED! This is it, people. It's all downhill from here. We're on the other side of that thin red line.

Thanks for opening my eyes on this, Voonyx. I'll retract my previous statement.

Don't let me stand in the way of your dramatics, Renzatic.

I made a simple statement that it declined, in response to your statement that it didn't and it's on an "upward march" and now you're screaming like chicken little? what's that about?

You were wrong. I understand your frustration.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

HALF A PERCENT! THE PC ARE DOOMED! This is it, people. It's all downhill from here. We're on the other side of that thin red line.

Thanks for opening my eyes on this, Voonyx. I'll retract my previous statement.

Yeah the 0.5% decline does not show a mature saturated market *sarcasm*
I mean come on it does not show the market is flat right now.

 

[ABernardoJr]

Some people are so ridiculously immature and unable to construct a proper argument without unintelligible sarcasm when someone actually brings up something reasonable. Tablets are PCs, netbooks are PCs (have fun finding me saying anything contrary to that), notebooks and desktops are PCs. Try communicating thoughts and ideas without finding it necessary to spout weak ad hominem insults (of any magnitude) if you want to be taken seriously.

 

[Renzatic]

Don't let me stand in the way of your dramatics, Renzatic.

I made a simple statement that it declined, in response to your statement that it didn't and it's on an "upward march" and now you're screaming like chicken little? what's that about?

You were wrong. I understand your frustration.

Hey, I'm not the one going around saying "olol, it declined 0.4%, I am rite u r rong" like it means something here.

See, there are these things called market fluctuations. They happen for...I dunno...whatever reason. It could've been because the price of peaches in China was slightly higher than usual, and since people wanted more peaches than computers this year, it affected sales slightly.

See, if you look at one of those funny little line graphs, you see that they're rarely ever steady. They're kinda jaggedity. Like a saw, you know? Right now, the PC market is in one of those little valleys. The tablet market is going up. That's because tablets are new. And they're neat. Everyone loves em. But does their steady incline in sales directly correlate to the slight decline of PC sales?

Not really. All it means is a whole bunch of people bought tablets, whereas some people sacrificed upgrading their computer this year because they wanted to buy more peaches.

 

[voonyx]

Hey, I'm not the one going around saying "olol, it declined 0.4%, I am rite u r rong" like it means something here.

See, there are these things called market fluctuations. They happen for...I dunno...whatever reason. It could've been because the price of peaches in China was slightly higher than usual, and since people like peaches better than computers, it affected sales slightly.

See, if you look at one of those funny little line graphs, you see that they're rarely ever steady. They're kinda jaggedity. Like a saw, you know? Right now, the PC market is in one of those little valleys. The tablet market is going up. That's because tablets are new. And they're neat. Everyone loves em. But does their steady incline in sales directly correlate to the slight decline of PC sales?

Not really. All it means is a whole bunch of people bought tablets, whereas some people sacrificed upgrading their computer this year because they wanted to buy more peaches.

The difference is I made no reference to "jaggedness" and "market fluctuations". I made the simple (and true) statement that if you remove iPads from the PC market analysis, the PC market declined. I didn't say "PCs are doomed!!!", I didn't say "EVERYONE is buying iPADS INSTEAD OF PCS ZOMGGG!!", and I didn't say "The end of the laptops and desktops are near, everyone go to their bunkers and await the apocalypse!!" (as opposed to your "The market didn't decline, and it's on a slight-grade-uphill march")

Like I said, you made an incorrect point, I corrected you and you got frustrated and bought out the dramatics. I understand.

 

[Renzatic]

The difference is I made no reference to "jaggedness" and "market fluctuations". I made the simple (and true) statement that if you remove iPads from the PC market analysis, the PC market declined. I didn't say "PCs are doomed!!!", I didn't say "EVERYONE is buying iPADS INSTEAD OF PCS ZOMGGG!!", and I didn't say "The end of the laptops and desktops are near, everyone go to their bunkers and await the apocalypse!!" (as opposed to your "The market didn't decline, and it's on a slight-grade-uphill march")

Like I said, you made an incorrect point, I corrected you and you got frustrated and bought out the dramatics. I understand.

An incorrect point by a fraction of a fraction, and you're splitting hairs to make yourself look right. The general trend is still steady, with a slight, slight incline.

Now quick, run along and post about how stupid I am on your little blog, then don't provide a link to the argument in question so you can look good to all your little internet friends.

Ahh I see, you mean the "usual suspects" that automatically down vote any post we make.

Ahh, the mysterious "they". Those...folks

If it makes you feel better, I rarely ever downvote anybody. I try to only upvote, cuz downvoting is a little too passive aggressive for my tastes.

 

[the8thark]

I think you'll find plenty of people who believed it was a PC before iOS 5.0. Was "cutting the cord" the only differentiator. I don't think so.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer

A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator.

The underlined part to me is the important part. As to me the need to activate the iPad with iTunes from Mac/Windows was an intervening computer operator. The removal of this with "Cut the Cord" made the iPad a PC in my opinion.

Yes people believed before iOS 5.0 that the iPad was a PC. But to me the "Cut the Cord" was the differentiator. The iPad had everything else that it needed to be a PC and that little feature in iOS 5.0 was the final piece to become a PC in my opinion.

 

[firewood]

In the old days, a user handed their deck of punched cards (or tape or disk pack) to a person with the job title "computer operator", and that person ran the card deck on the computer for you. An iPad needs no such employee with that job title for personal use, and never did. Thus it is "personal". It's also very obvious to any programmer that it is capable of general purpose computing (and faster than that IBM 360 mainframe).

 

[xiaotuanzi]

I have all of them and the only one which is truely replaced by the iPad is my Netbook.

 

[iSayuSay]

PC (as in Desktop, Notebook) is not dead yet due to iPad.

All iPad going to replace in near future is cheap a$$ $300 netbook. So you can say goodbye to netbook and that's about it.

The next iPad, which supposed to have quad core and doubled PPI display would make it even truer. And yes, iPad or even iPhone and iPod is a PC. The difference is people buy iPad to SUBSTITUTE some of mobile computer .. again, something like netbooks. While people buying an iPod or iPhone as a complimentary gadget, you still have to own a computer if you buy those, not replacing it.

Thus .. it's fair to see iPad included in PC sales.

Although it does not stop the fact that Apple is all about iOS nowadays, it's 70% off their revenue, and beyond! Even if Apple suddenly stop selling all Mac computers today, Apple would still be the first to reach $ 1 trillion asset in next quarter, it would be a matter of weeks, or even days! Especially with next gen iPad launch approaching.

So yeah, Apple is underestimating by stated that iPad sales cannibalizing "some" of Mac sales, no it's not .. iPad and iOS hordes are SLAUGHTERING Mac sales it's not even funny anymore.

​

 

[Cheebo]

I tried to come up with a list of everything the average home consumer needs a computer for:

• Creating/Editing/Reading/Sending/Printing Word/Pages, Excel/Numbers, PowerPoint/Keynote, PDF’s and other related productivity documents
• Browsing the internet/Online shopping
• Reading/Sending E-Mails
• Using Social Networks like Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr
• Watch/Make YouTube videos
• Editing, upload to the internet, e-mailing video files & photos
• Instant Messaging & Video Chatting
• Download and: watch videos, read books/magazines/comics, play games, listen to music/podcasts

Which one of these can a iPad not do? As far as I can tell it can accomplish all of them, and do them pretty well.

 

[godostoyke]

Alas, millions of consumers think a computer is anything they can use to browse the Interwebs and check their Facebooks. If that's true, then a LOT more devices should be classified as "computers", including mobile phones and web-connected TVs and refrigerators.

I agree with your statement that if an iPad is a PC, so is an android tablet.

As "The8thark" pointed out above, wiki defines a PC as a "general purpose computer".

Clearly the lines are becoming blurred, but by that definition it makes sense to exclude smartphones, web-connected TVs and refrigerators as they are purchased for specific functions other than general computing. Nobody goes out to buy a PC and ends up with a fridge, shouting "Hey, this PC also keeps my pop cold!".

An iPod is harder. Let's just call it an MP3 player ...

 

[Cheebo]

I'd say there are 4 classifications of Consumer PC's. Desktops, Laptops, Netbooks, & Tablets. All 4 of those product lines are PC's.