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Laptops Outsell Desktops in Retail Stores
TechnoPope writes "According to this article on MSNBC.Com, laptop computers accounted for 54 percent of of 500 Million in retail computer sales last year. Also mentioned was that LCD's outsold CRT's in retail as well. "
Not included in the article is discussion of the fact that, per unit, more desktops/CRTs are sold than laptops/LCDs because of the costs. When people buy more laptops/LCDs despite the price, then I'll be impressed.
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Now that LCD monitors are getting more and more affordable, of course the better technology will sell over the lesser. As far as laptops over desktops, I believe large corporations account for the majority of computer purchases and from what I have seen in my own company, everyone gets a laptop and a docking station (to simulate a desktop).
weren't computer sales down 6 months ago?
corporations don't have the money to upgrade anymore, that's a big bulk of a downcline in desktop sales...
and, universities would rather use laptops rather than desktops becuase of space and power requirements.
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I read this yesterday and thought "whoah! More laptops than desktops!" but after reading the article I became aware that the money brought in from laptop sales was more than the money brought in from desktops. Considering the average laptop costs twice as much as the average desktop, you've still got roughly a 2-1 ratio of desktop units sold over laptops.
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Is this a sign that 'joe user' starting to realize that software is no longer requiring upgrades every 6 months? (ease of Desktop ugrade is no longer a driving factor)...
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Bearing in mind that desktops are cheaper, and that you can upgrade them more easily using off the shelf components, this doesn't mean that all of a sudden the world+dog are switching to laptops, especially not first time computer buyers looking for a family pc.
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As far as I've seen Desktop buyers almost routinely build their own. Even non-'IT professionals' are building them. I don't know many people building laptops for fun.
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... since almost all laptops are guaranteed to be running some form of Windows. I'll buy one when they ship it to me with FreeBSD installed.
Dude, relax. You're being very un-Dude.
I haven't seen an LCD yet that was really good for certain types of games, like driving games and shooters. For work, yeah, I'd rather have an LCD. For games...unless there's something out there that won't ghost at all, I'll stick with the CRT.
I read this as "Higher number of laptops than desktops".
As laptops generally cost a lot more, it's not that surprising. I also think that laptops are most popular among business / professional users (who can afford the higher price for increased convenience), while the vast majority of home users have desktops as their primary
Could something similar be the case with the LCD's?
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Well, not too amazing. We've run into some issues with the people at my company. One of our receptionists for example: She acquired a LCD monitor to fit on the new receptionist desk that was purchased for her. The reasononing behind the LCD purchase was due to space reasons. ie. there wasn't enough room on the desk for a CRT. In any case, we put the display in, and within minutes she was complaining because she couldn't read it. The standard, nice and crisp, 1024x768 resolution on the monitor was too small for her to read. Our solution. Bump the resolution back to 800x600. On an LCD display this creates problems as the letters get all blocky, and it becomes rather difficult to read. The thing is, since the display looked like crap at 800x600, she complained about it more than being unable to read it. In the end, we had no choice but to leave it at 800x600 so she could at least see the words. I think that's one of the major reasons people stick with CRT's. Despite the resolution on a CRT, all the text is nice and clear.
This is just my opinion, I could be wrong.
If you're looking here for something insightful or thought provoking, you're probably looking in the wrong place.
I bought a CRT about 9 months ago, but even by today's standards of LCDs, that "slight increase in price" would be about $700. Taday's lowest price of a LCD that does 1600x1200 res: about $950 off pricewatch. My monitor when I bought it: $225. This is not just a "slight difference".
That's hardly surprising. How often do you think people replace a stolen desktop?
Two words: digital photography. An LCD simply can't match the true color representation a good CRT can give, which is essential if you're going to do any serious photo work on a PC.
I have never understood the idea that laptops are more comfortable than desktops. My forearms are resting on my chair's armrests, my 21" monitor is at eye level. Try that with a laptop (sans docking station).
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But if you look at the statement, they only say that laptops accounted for 54% of $ of retail sales. Given that laptops are generally more expensive, desktops still outsold laptops in numbers. Add to that the average guy can build his own desktop, which is not counted in these numbers, but cannot build his own laptop or notebook, and the actual number of desktops as well as dollars spent on desktops far exceeded laptops.
So they can twist sales numbers to say what they want, even if it isn't accurate. What else is new? And who really cares?
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Just wait 5 years.
I'll still be using the desktop machines I've got - doing incremental upgrades, of course - but it'll basically be the same boxen.
By then your laptop will be gone. Even if you don't step on it, drop it, run over it with a car, or get it stolen, it'll die from overheat or one of the internal components will break and be irreparable because everything's integrated (with the possible exception of the harddrive).
And then you'll have to buy another one.
Laptops may eventually replace desktops in per-unit usage simply because the laptop owners have to keep buying new ones, while the desktop owners don't. Kind of like how industrial laser printer sales are far fewer than inkjet printer sales.
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I bet laptops will continue to gain market share over desktops. For most people a good laptop has more than enough power to use office apps, Internet and maybe the odd game. And that's all most people need to do with their computers.
Now that you don't have to sacrifice power and performance for portability in any significant way, why would you bother buying a desktop other than cost? So I think a lot of people are thinking that getting a desktop that they can only use in one location is a major drawback.
Personally, I've been drooling over the new Apple G5s, but I really think my next computer will be another Powerbook. I take my TiBook everywhere with me, and with WIFI at home and work, I can use it all day. If I buy a desktop for home, I won't get to use it for most of my day.
Real estate is more expensive than
computers. And getting more expensive.
Computers get less expensive, at least
expressed as computing power and features
for a given amount of dollars.
Businesses want cubicles to stay small
(or get smaller) and people with home offices
want to make maximum use of that space.
It makes perfect sense on that basis.
However, I think there a lot of downsides
to laptops that overzealous desktop replacers don't see, including proprietary components,
vulnerability to physical damage and theft,
and relative difficulty of backing up whole
hard drives.
I agree "outselling" is ambiguous, but you goofed by saying desktops still "rule the market." A market is *always* measured in dollars, not units. Otherwise one would say that the market for automobiles is dwarfed by the market for M&Ms.