Can Newegg Survive the Post-PC Future?

jfruhlinger writes "Upgrading your desktop PC's video card was once a rite of passage for many Slashdot readers — and could also be a gateway to building your own computer from the motherboard up. And more often than not, you bought the components from Newegg. But the tablets and ultrathin laptops that are today's hot sellers don't let you so much as swap in more RAM. What's a component retailer to do in world without user-serviceable components?"

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[Liamecaps]

That's probably why they advertise rice cookers in my inbox every morning. agh

Did the market really shift?

[Georules]

I doubt that those who purchased parts from newegg.com in the past are going to completely shift to ultrathin laptops and tablets. Developers, gamers, hackers who bought parts from newegg in the past are still going to want to make custom systems in the future.

Kids are still interested in this as well. I taught middle schoolers how to build a PC from scratch, and wanted nothing more than to work on their custom machines.

Re:Did the market really shift?

[erroneus]

I'm pretty much with you on this point of view. In fact, there might be a SLIGHT drop in volume, but by my guess-timation, NewEgg's future demographic is pretty much the same people who have been with NewEgg all along. Is that "survival"? In my mind it is. But there are still a million MBAs out there who believe that if you're not growing, you're dying. It doesn't make sense to me, but plenty to those who believe growth means everything.

Re:Did the market really shift?

[ShavedOrangutan]

I think you're the minority at this point.

Most computer geeks I know are using years-old hardware because it works just fine. Take a 3 year old system and strip off all the OEM installed garbage and it's lightning fast. On the other hand, most normal users I know are buying brand new PCs that are way over powered and throwing them away when they're too filled with malware to run anymore. And they buy those at Best Buy.

$300 for the latest video card? It's probably not going to boost the frame rate much for Unreal Tournament. My 5 year old NVidia 6thousandwhatever works great. I'll spend my $300 on an Acer Aspire One.

Re:Did the market really shift?

[MBGMorden]

I'm in the same boat, but sometimes I wonder if it's more of just an age thing. Back when I was in high school/college (ironically, when I had the least amount of disposable income), I had to have faster and faster stuff. It didn't matter if I was only getting another 100Mhz on a CPU upgrade - I had to have it. I also overclocked virtually everything in the box to get as much as I could out of it. I researched thermal pastes and heatsinks and spent weeks picking out a motherboard that had just the right flavor of features I wanted.

Now, I'm on the verge of turning 30. I still play games on the computer, but not as much as I used to, and I've come to a point in my life where there are a lot of other things taking my attention rather than keeping my computer spiffy. I still build from parts, but I typically buy midrange stuff. I typically don't upgrade things for a few years or until I run across a game that won't work on my current system. I pick out whatever cheapo thermal grease is on sale, typically use a "budget" Biostar motherboard, and run pretty much stock everything - I no longer have the patience to troubleshoot overclocking issues.

To put it into perspective - my gaming PC is still sporting a Core 2 Duo CPU 3.2 Ghz, a Geforce GTX 460, only 2GB of ram, and Windows Vista (yep, Vista). Also telling is that since I'm not sitting at that PC, I had to check my order history to be able to specify the video card and CPU I was using. Once upon a time I could have told you the specific stepping of my CPU without checking anything.

That said, there still seems to be a vibrant community of younger guys still doing all that stuff and having fun, and they will provide plenty of revenue for shops like Newegg.

Huh?

[DogDude]

Post-PC? "World with user-serviceable components"? I don't know what world jfruhlinger lives on, but it ain't the same as mine. Desktop PC's will be around for a very long time. It's pretty hard to do any kind of actual work on an i*.

False Premise

[nmb3000]

Hello, I'd like to introduce you to the False Premise.

Besides, people who are replacing their real computer with whatever the current "hot seller" is are not the primary customer of computer component retailers.

Assuming they don't do anything stupid to themselves, NewEgg is going to be just fine.

Still many accessories in a "post PC" world

[SuperKendall]

There are still a lot of possible accessories to be sold for those going wholly with tablets - keyboards, stands, other accessory items.

And of course the term "post PC" does not mean the PC is going away, just that it may not be the primary device for everyone with a computer as it has been.

And even with ultra-thin laptops, you have a ton of stuff they can sell - a company right now is working on an external Thunderbolt case for the Macbook Pro line that lets you add new video cards, and of course there's always external storage needed for anything...

I think Newegg will be just fine.

The same thing we do every night, Pinky.

[Culture20]

But the tablets and ultrathin laptops that are today's hot sellers don't let you so much as swap in more RAM. What's a component retailer to do in world without user-serviceable components?

Um, pre-built computers from Packard Bell, IBM, Compaq, Gateway, HP, Dell, were the hot sellers prior to and during Newegg's rise. I have a feeling a change in "hot seller" won't change the custom built market one whit.

Can itworld.com survive?

[dreemernj]

Can itworld.com survive an obvious lack of valid topics to talk about?

Applications suppressed by device mfr

[tepples]

But what about when you can get a 15 inch tablet (which is basically a mb and a screen) for say 50 bucks. Would you *bother* to upgrade it?

That depends on whether I'd need to upgrade it in order to become able to run applications that the device's manufacturer has suppressed. Compare modding original Xbox consoles to run XBMC for Xbox (formerly Xbox Media Center).

Re:inb4 "The PC's not dead" holy war.

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy fucking shit. MichaelKristopeit posted something that wasn't completely fucking retarded. Maybe slashdot really is dead.

Re:Holy Wars ... the Punishment Due

[Timothy Brownawell]

Obviously there will always be some demand for high-end PCs. However, it is plausible that at some point in the near future, most people will be using "netbooks" or tablets for their day-to-day computing needs.

Won't those be the same people who currently buy preassembled machines at bestbuy or walmart?

Re:Holy Wars ... the Punishment Due

[bigstrat2003]

Exactly. The people who bought components on Newegg are enthusiasts; they aren't ever going to abandon their custom-built PCs in favor of some tablet. They might own a tablet, it's true, but that will be supplemental to what they already use.

Re:Holy Wars ... the Punishment Due

[icebike]

However, it is plausible that at some point in the near future, most people will be using "netbooks" or tablets for their day-to-day computing needs.

Most people who currently own netbooks and tablets do not use them for their "day-to-day computing needs", so what makes you think they are replacing current laptop/desktop machines?

Exactly.

The demise of the desktop is a long way off. It will probably never arrive.
Anyone who has ever used a tablet pc knows that doing any amount of real work on one is tedious at best, and impossible for the most part. Anything beyond email is a major hassle. Even with docking bays, mice, and keyboards, its a pain.
Corporate is not that interested in putting all its assets into the purse of the airhead intern to walk out the door.

Desktop's will change. But they are not going away, and the touch screen scaled up simply will not fly. People are not going want to fat-finger huge monitors with their whole arm when a simple mouse click will do.