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The Dying PC Market

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the netcraft-confirms-nothing dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The PC's role in Japanese homes is diminishing, as its once-awesome monopoly on processing power is encroached by gadgets such as smart phones that act like pocket-size computers, advanced Internet-connected game consoles, digital video recorders with terabytes of memory NEC's annual PC shipments in Japan shrank 6.2 percent to 2.72 million units in 2006, and the trend is continuing into the first quarter of fiscal 2007 with a 14 percent decline from a year earlier. Sony's PC shipments for Japan shrank 10 percent in 2006 from a year earlier. "The household PC market is losing momentum to other electronics like flat-panel TVs and mobile phones," said Masahiro Katayama, research group head at market survey firm IDC. "Consumers aren't impressed anymore with bigger hard drives or faster processors. That's not as exciting as a bigger TV," Katayama said. "And in Japan, kids now grow up using mobile phones, not PCs. The future of PCs isn't bright.""

8 of 307 comments (clear)

  1. Sales by Wowsers · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe the lowering pc sales is a result of the quality of computers and software, rather than the other gadgets being that good?

    From my experience for example, Sony has made products which have more style over practical usage. I'm not going to pay $2000 for a styled pc which you can't use and breaks a month out of warranty.

    --
    Take Nobody's Word For It.
  2. Re:cookin up a mug of by calebt3 · · Score: 2, Funny

    How on earth did this particular meme come to be in the first place? Did someone horribly misspell 'First Post'?

  3. Re:Yeah, well by calebt3 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course I expect most slashdot readers to still want their PCs.. Correction: we want our Linux-running Beowulf clusters.
  4. Re:cookin up a mug of by somersault · · Score: 4, Funny

    Your powers of deduction are teh pwnage young one.

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    which is totally what she said
  5. Re:Yeah, well by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

    I have two university degrees, one in numerate sciences, but I struggle to understand how the numbers on any cellphone contract add up.

    Your problem is that you have the wrong degrees. If you had an MBA, it would all make sense. Especially if you used Excel.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  6. Re:Yeah, well by happyemoticon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Also, letting children near a computer is mind-bogglingly dangerous. My nephews would be the best QA engineers in the world if only they didn't answer, "I didn't do anything!" any time you asked them how they broke the computer.

  7. Re:Since my PC died the other week by Zepalesque · · Score: 2, Funny

    "for the rest of my online needs, I use the workplace computer."

      I have found that the workplace computer is excellent for reading Slashdot...

  8. Re:Yeah, well by nomadic · · Score: 2, Funny

    isnt a smartphone not just a small pc with a radio stack?

    And a fax machine is nothing more than a waffle iron with a telephone attached!