PC market refuses to die, rises again in Q1 2012

Market research firm IDC has released its quarterly figures for computer sales in the first part of 2012. It’s surprised some pundits by claiming that far from the traditional PC era being over, worldwide shipments are up. They’re even showing growth in debt-saddled, austerity shackled and market saturated Europe, of all places.

In a release accompanying the info, the firm describes buyers as ‘still cautious’ and possibly waiting on Windows 8, but highlights problems in the hard drive supply chain following flooding in Thailand as the most significant factor holding back purchases. Despite these problems, it says that while it was predicting just 0.9% growth worldwide the actual market expanded by 2.3%

That means a further 87 million PCs were created in the first three months of the year than existed previously, up on 85 million in the same period for 2011. The figures include sales of Apple Macs, but not tablets of any OS or flavour. Apple was the third largest vendor in the US, although outside the top five worldwide.

The most impressive performance was by Chinese manufacturer Lenovo, which increased the number of PCs it sold by 43.7% globally to nearly four million a month. ASUS also fared well, putting out 22% more machines than previously taking its total to more than five million (presumably laptops) for the period.

The salient point is that while computer use is changing rapidly, spurred on by adoption of mobile platforms, it’s not necessarily the PC that’s suffering. In fact, tie this story in with last month’s news that 2011 was a boom year for sales of PC games, then set it against the declining revenues from console software and you’ve got a fairly convincing PC renaissance story.

Of course, it could also just be an errant blip against underlying trends, there’s no getting away from the fact that PC sales were generally down last year in most developed markets.

[SOURCE]

PC gaming is dead, long live PC gaming!

Yeah , I read that earlier. Nice to see some positive pc news for a change.

My inner cynic says that he almost assumes that certain business suits will outright refuse to believe that [PC gaming still isn't dead but instead was rising a bit up].

Another drawn conclusion might be that shooter games do sell.
I think they dominate anything else right now - in terms of sales.

You didn't know the pc is dead. It's all I hear about from tech sites. When in reality its not dead it's just evolving. Not everyone wants a tablet.

The salient point is that while computer use is changing rapidly, spurred on by adoption of mobile platforms, it’s not necessarily the PC that’s suffering. In fact, tie this story in with last month’s news that 2011 was a boom year for sales of PC games, then set it against the declining revenues from console software and you’ve got a fairly convincing PC renaissance story.

Actually, what you've got is a very unconvincing conclusion. I'll bet you the VAST majority of those PC sales are being made to businesses. Also, sales to many countries (including China) are only really interesting to the MMO market - people in those countries mostly pirate games.

Couchpotato is right - not everyone wants a tablet. They aren't remotely powerful enough for gamers. I don't think Autocad is going to be running real well on one, either. Typical home users, though, that mostly just use their computer for email and web browsing, can do pretty well with just a tablet or even a phone. Especially if they can plug a keyboard in. (Though, if you plug a keyboard, mouse, and screen in does that mean your tablet IS a PC?)

It's all horribly complex. The thing to watch, though, is game sales. If the gaming companies are making money then the games are going to keep coming out.

Originally Posted by Zloth
Actually, what you've got is a very unconvincing conclusion. I'll bet you the VAST majority of those PC sales are being made to businesses. Also, sales to many countries (including China) are only really interesting to the MMO market - people in those countries mostly pirate games.

Couchpotato is right - not everyone wants a tablet. They aren't remotely powerful enough for gamers. I don't think Autocad is going to be running real well on one, either. Typical home users, though, that mostly just use their computer for email and web browsing, can do pretty well with just a tablet or even a phone. Especially if they can plug a keyboard in. (Though, if you plug a keyboard, mouse, and screen in does that mean your tablet IS a PC?)

It's all horribly complex. The thing to watch, though, is game sales. If the gaming companies are making money then the games are going to keep coming out.

There's a link in the article for pc game sales.

Says they are up 15% over 2011 to a record 18.6 billion.

Sales in china are up 27% so i'm not sure about them being mostly pirates.

Lot of generalizations lately, much like the guy in another thread who said the pc community was getting what it deserves because were all a bunch of pirates.

I'm 40 years old, have been pretty much a pc only gamer since the 80's and have never pirated a game.

Originally Posted by sakichop
There's a link in the article for pc game sales.

Says they are up 15% over 2011 to a record 18.6 billion.

Sales in china are up 27% so i'm not sure about them being mostly pirates.

Lot of generalizations lately, much like the guy in another thread who said the pc community was getting what it deserves because were all a bunch of pirates.

I'm 40 years old, have been pretty much a pc only gamer since the 80's and have never pirated a game.

Exactly… And even if you want to be a cynic and wave off those numbers as simply attributed to the MMO or F2P markets - Skyrim sold over 2 million copies for the PC(according to VGchartz). Correct me if I'm wrong, but steam does not release it's sales data either, so that number should be even higher.

As for traditional desktop PCs, I can only give empirical data, but I cannot begin to tell you the number of PCs I've helped friends and family members build/piece together or upgrade(at least a couple dozen, some of them desktop virgins). Thing is you can buy or build a competent all-purpose quad core desktop with a nice midrange GPU for ~$800(less if you hunt for deals from various etailers). If you already have peripherals, monitor and a windows xp/vista/7 key that's even more money saved. There hasn't been a better time to buy or build an all-purpose or gaming PC.

This article was more of a response to the generalization that PC gaming is dead or dying… Well I'd say that growing PC sales, PC game sales and even a resurgence of long thought dead genres via kickstarter are proof positive that the PC as a platform is far from dead/gone. Oh and if anything(my opinion), we'll see the PC further strengthen as consoles slip farther and farther from their console/arcade roots instead trying to be PCs themselves(and generally failing since their HW is a generation behind by the time they hit market; and certainly multiple generations behind as they reach their EOL).

Says they are up 15% over 2011 to a record 18.6 billion.

Sales in china are up 27% so i'm not sure about them being mostly pirates.

Check the games. I think you'll find the games they are buying are MMOs and other games where the game is associated to an account - which makes piracy vastly harder to do. The fact that you can get China, Russia, and so many other countries that ignore copyright law to actually pay for your game is a huge reason why those types of games are taking off.

I'm 40 years old, have been pretty much a pc only gamer since the 80's and have never pirated a game.

Good for you. Do you represent the majority of developing nation consumers?

——

As for traditional desktop PCs, I can only give empirical data, but I cannot begin to tell you the number of PCs I've helped friends and family members…

Uhh, that's not 'empirical' that's anecdotal.

If what you are trying to say is that PC game sales are rising then why are you quoting an article about PC sales rising? If games were the main reason people buy PCs then that would make sense but it isn't and never has been. That's like pointing to the fact that a lake now has 20% more water in it and use it as proof that there are now more trout living in the lake. Why not quote the linked article and talk about PC game sales going up??

Originally Posted by Zloth
If games were the main reason people buy PCs then that would make sense but it isn't and never has been.

Really? What are they they buying them for, educational purposes? Bollocks; a million bucks says that the first thing they install is a game.

Originally Posted by MasterKromm
Exactly… And even if you want to be a cynic and wave off those numbers as simply attributed to the MMO or F2P markets - Skyrim sold over 2 million copies for the PC(according to VGchartz). Correct me if I'm wrong, but steam does not release it's sales data either, so that number should be even higher.

Yes, it's also likely they've sold at least as many steam copies, if not more, resulting in more total sales for PC than PS3.

On a different note, I've been waititing for pc gaming to die for years. As I've read somewhere, something becomes art once it stops being relevant. So what the hell are you waiting for game companies? We're all a bunch of filthy pirates and we only want your financial destruction. Why don't you forget about us and completelly take your spectacular 3D and your awesome buttons over to the console people that love you so much and want you to be happy? Do so and allow the little developers that actually care more about their work than how many copies they sold in China to finally shine through without distractions.

PC sales will never die. For every single thieving, piece of crap pirate that exists, there are 1000 honesty people that don't mind paying a pittance for entertainment. I have a dream that one day all the pirates will collectively die.


-Carn

Originally Posted by Zloth
Uhh, that's not 'empirical' that's anecdotal.

Indeed, brain farts happen… Thanks for the correction.

If what you are trying to say is that PC game sales are rising then why are you quoting an article about PC sales rising? If games were the main reason people buy PCs then that would make sense but it isn't and never has been. That's like pointing to the fact that a lake now has 20% more water in it and use it as proof that there are now more trout living in the lake. Why not quote the linked article and talk about PC game sales going up??

A better, less obtuse analogy would be:

Pointing out that a lake with 20% more water in it could be a result of increased rainfall…

Of course correlation does not imply causation, that goes without saying, but a larger more robust desktop market is a larger pool of potential customers for PC games. Then again, let me put words in your mouth and assume that you're saying something entirely different…

Increased PC sales will never contribute to increased PC game sales.

Errr? I don't follow you MasterKromm? Oh well, when in doubt, assume agreement.

Originally Posted by badmofo
Really? What are they they buying them for, educational purposes? Bollocks; a million bucks says that the first thing they install is a game.

I bet'cha at least a quarter of them can't install anything because their IT department has the PC locked down. Businesses are the ones buying the computers up. I wonder how many of those PC sales are servers?

A better way to measure gamers might be to watch sales of mid and high-end video cards (but not those huge monsters the CAD people use). I wonder if those sales figures are out there?

Originally Posted by Zloth
Errr? I don't follow you MasterKromm? Oh well, when in doubt, assume agreement.


I bet'cha at least a quarter of them can't install anything because their IT department has the PC locked down. Businesses are the ones buying the computers up. I wonder how many of those PC sales are servers?

A better way to measure gamers might be to watch sales of mid and high-end video cards (but not those huge monsters the CAD people use). I wonder if those sales figures are out there?

I'm confused as to what your point is. I already linked you to an article showing pc game sales are up. You wrote it off as MMO sales. Does it matter? Does the pc need to sell a certain genre of game before they can show increased sales?

Here's sales figures for gaming hardware. Interpret it how you wish.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/new…6_billion_2012