Report: 2009 to be PC industry's worst year since dot-com implosion

At the end of this year, the number of PCs shipped is expected to be lower than the previous year, a rarity for the industry.

In fact, it would be the first time that's happened since 2001, when the tech world collapsed in on itself, according to market research firm iSuppli. A report released Tuesday by iSuppli is projecting that 287.3 million PCs will be shipped in 2009, a 4 percent decrease from the 299.2 million shipped around the world in 2008.

And though expectations weren't particularly high for this year, the industry is now on track to do worse than previously thought: iSuppli had predicted 0.7 percent growth for the year. PC makers have been able to ship more each year for eight straight years, so it's fair to say this dip is unusual. Said iSuppli analyst Matthew Wilkins, "Even in weak years, PC unit shipments typically rise by single-digit percentages."

The culprit in this case is the fading out of the desktop computer. Shipments of desktops are expected to decline 18.1 percent this year, as notebook PCs become ever more popular. Notebooks are on track to grow almost 12 percent this year, for the first time outpacing desktop shipments for a whole year.

It's been clear for several years that PC buyers prefer mobility, and the increasing power of notebooks have helped push more customers in that direction. PC manufacturers have looked for ways in the last couple years to reinvigorate desktop sales. Many have been pushing all-in-one desktop computers, some with touch-screen interfaces. iSuppli's numbers show that mainstream consumers have yet to take the bait.

Another factor in the sagging PC industry is the severe drop off in IT spending by large corporate customers. There could be good news ahead though. Dell's CFO said Monday the company is seeing demand for its computers, servers, and services stabilizing, which could mean they think they've seen the bottom of the market.

[HlLLARY CLITON]

Desktops are generally bulky, energy hogs. Laptops are getting so cheap why buy the energy hog

[akljsdj]

Because Laptops Batteries Die Within A Couple Years And Need To Be Replaced, And You Don't Get The Same Computing Power For The Price. A Fast Desktop Is Cheaper Than An Equally Fast Laptop.

[AaronCT123]

I'm an aspiring 3D animator. I need power, a graphics card, expandability, a larger screen, more memory and more hard drive space.

[Random_Walk]

You sorta forgot something: Thin-Clients (VMWare VDI, MSFT's Terminal Server, etc) ;)

[kalel33]

Both jobs that used thin clients were just torture. They're slow and I end up typing faster than the thin client can process. They might save money in the short run, but take longer to do most tasks and kill productivity.

[Random_Walk]

It all depends on how it is set up. If your LAN is stuck at 100mbit/half-duplex, then yes it will suck eggs. It will also suck if the IT department doesn't know how to implement it, or under-supplies the service on the back-end.

If you do it right (1gbit/full minimum in the LAN, VDI and/or Panologic in the middle with Panologic and/or embedded thin clients, then make sure you have the network shares direct-connect to CIFS/NFS on the SAN w/o a middle-man file server mucking it up), it can be a beautiful thing.

[sciontcya]

OTOH, it seems AAPL is doing pretty well.
There are companies doing well in this bust.

[S3vak]

Do you get this information from plain stocks

Or the amount of non-Mac hardware sold by Apple compared to Macs sold by Apple.

[libertyforall1776]

Hrmm, Apple seems to be doing ok... Maybe since Apple makes a better mousetrap (HW & SW).

[monkeyfun14]

The SW is alright the HW could be better.

[BtmnHatesRbn]

Let's see...every ten years? 1979, the Altair/IMSAI implosion, leaving the door open to Apple ][ and the C-64. Then in 1989, according to many Computer Chronicles episodes at the Internet Archive, same thing, as tech. companies laid off many people and merged and disappeared rapidly, until settling down in 1992. Then in 1999, the beginning of the Dot-Com collapse.

[blusky08]

Many people are putting off new PC purchases due to the forthcoming Windows 7. Plus, Apple sales are increasing (perhaps also due partially to those unwilling to buy Vista but unwilling to wait for W7?). It may be that some of those sales will be made up after the W7 release, but if W7 has major issues it could truly spell disaster MS.

[Renegade Knight]

Vista had major issues. MS offered up 7 as the solution then stiffed me and said "buy the fix to what we already sold you that don't work". No thanks. 7 in a new system (assuming I don't go Mac) is enough. It took 4 computers to find a home for Vista (that worked...my Mac) when I did actually spend money for an upgrade.

I'm not walking that path again. XP on old machines works well enough. No need to spend fresh money for an "upgrade" just like the one that didn't work last time.

I say that after using the Beta and finding that it had no problems unlike Vista. Other than losing all my data and not doing a real upgrade since 7 wanted me to upgrade from Vista and not XP. They lost me there. To much time to invest to get things working again.

[kaiman75]

Bad Economy + Windows Vista = Sales Decline

'Nuff Said!

[viper396]

Anybody who's been paying attention knows the problems in the economy were caused by the mortgage and credit problem. That translated to loss jobs and less spending which then leads to decline in sales. Implying that Windows had anything to do with it is just petty and irrational.

[gd1294]

Lap tops have their place but along with mp3 technology why are we allowing the younger generation of idiots determine what the market produces. pro lap tops are portable and use less energy. cons battery life is not good enough, limited storage "Not ergonomic to type on", you replace lap tops quicker than a desk top, over heating problems, hard to replace or up grade components, cost you more to fix and and lap tops cost you more. You can combat most of the cons but it will cost you extra. I think desk tops will be around for a while. They have gotten smaller and we already use them for different application example storage for media next to the television extra. The only time I really enjoy a laptop is when I am on vacation. It is a pleasure to surf the web in the morning and check emails if the hotel has wii fi. I also don't have anything stored on my laptop. All information that is important to me is at home on my desk top. I know I know I know grand pa must be cranky because he did not get his nap today. ps I am not a senior citizen yet.

[AaronCT123]

Too bad every all-in-one I've seen costs either way more than Apple's iMac or costs the same but doesn't meet their specs- often substituting integrated graphics for an actual graphics card. Also, as an art student I need a powerful machine and anything Dell, HP or anyone else can offer ends up costing about $1,200 so I'm just going to build it myself. Everyone else who wants a powerful machine for a good deal will probably do the same, leaving the general market to snatch up notebooks/netbooks.