Declining sales are an opportunity for the PC industry
The PC business is in trouble, but that's OK!
(Credit: HP)2009 is shaping up to be a tough year for the PC industry. According to a forecast update to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, PC shipments are expected to decline sharply over the first two quarters this year.
I consider this period, one marked with declining profit margins and plummeting sales, which would be a death knell for some industries, an opportunity for this one. It is just what PC manufacturers need to get them to jump-start their research and development divisions, to find new ways to sell computers.
Perhaps this isn't the end, but rather the beginning of a new era in the PC business, where manufacturers pay more attention to consumer desire and provide them with more of the things they actually want. I hope so, anyway. And if it comes to pass, here's what I'm looking for:
Better post-sale customer service
Sorry, Dell, but I don't believe that I should be forced to pay extra for U.S.-based customer support agents. I understand they're more expensive and I know Apple does it in its own way too, but that doesn't make it right.
In business, there are two simple ways to appeal to consumers: differentiate on price or differentiate on product. Since Dell can't differentiate on price thanks to low profit margins, U.S-based customer service at no additional cost would be an outstanding way to stand out and show customers that Dell has the most convenient service in the world. In these desperate times, it's worth classifying U.S.-based customer service as an investment instead of an expense.
But it's not just Dell. I wish all these companies would do more to improve their post-sale customer service. There's absolutely no reason why I should be forced to wait on-hold for hours trying to solve a simple problem and no, "inserting the recovery disc" is not a viable solution. In my experience, customer support has worsened over the past few years and now that sales are declining, maybe it can be the first place where these companies try to coax more people to buy their products. After all, if you knew you would enjoy a better post-sale experience with HP, wouldn't that make you more likely to buy one of its computers? It certainly would help sway my decision.
New designs, please
I'm generally unimpressed with the design of notebooks and desktops from the major PC manufacturers. Although they've tried in recent years to improve upon that, I'm still convinced that they're not doing enough to create stylish computers.
Why do I want a stylish computer? Because carrying around a black brick isn't all that appealing to me (for those for whom it is, there's always Lenovo). When I'm sitting at Starbucks or hanging out at a tech show, my laptop becomes an extension of who I am. If I don't want to wear that ugly pink shirt with horizontal stripes, what makes you think I really want to use that ugly HP notebook?
This is where Apple has it right. Its devices are elegant, yet functional. Take a look at the recent releases from HP, Dell, and especially Acer and tell me if any of those companies can compete on design. I certainly don't think so.
Experiment with touch screens
I know the viability of touch-screen PCs has been hotly debated between those who say they're not useful for computing and those who think they are, but with PC sales declining, I really wish the major manufacturers would try out more touch-screen PCs.
HP's current TouchSmart PCs are pretty good. The touch capabilities don't always come in handy, they don't detract from the experience in any way. Granted, if I really need to get real work done, I wouldn't use the touch screen at all, but the value of including such a feature in a PC goes back to the idea of differentiating products to appeal to consumers. And in an environment where traditional PCs won't be selling nearly as well, what would it hurt for a company like Dell to jump into the touch-screen market?
Maybe it's just me, but I enjoy touch-screen computers and I wish there were more of them. When things are going well, I'd probably say that these companies shouldn't try to fix something that isn't broken. But since things aren't going well, it's time to try something new and excite consumers. Touch-screens might be just that feature.
More customization, please
Over the past five years or so, PC manufacturers have been doing a better job of letting us customize our machines. But I think more needs to be done. I don't want to just pick a processor and GPU, I want to be able to pick the design of the case, and choose every last component in that computer. I wish HP, Dell, and the others would let me build my own PC from scratch.
I realize that Dell does an especially fine job of allowing us to customize PCs, but it can do more. I think there is a rather large group of consumers that really do wish they could customize every last component in their PCs. The mainstream vendors don't give them the option.
And since things aren't going well for the PC industry, wouldn't this be a great opportunity for one of the companies to show that they're willing to go the extra mile to get my business? Maybe I don't want that Intel processor or perhaps the notebook's design is just too ugly for my liking. I want to be able to change every last bit of it. I don't think that's asking too much.
Now, for the reality
Are some of my ideas pie-in-the-sky? Probably. But with PC manufacturers experiencing such a severe decline in sales, I think they need to do something, and I want them to do exactly what I outlined above.
It might never happen. HP, Dell, and the rest might trudge through this next year anxiously awaiting better times, but I truly believe that this year is an opportunity for these companies and they shouldn't miss it. They can change their focus, appeal to consumer desire, and come out of this recession on top.
It all starts with a willingness to innovate.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
And really - if you want more customization - the kind that you detail here, wouldn't you be much better off by ordering your parts from newegg.com? The kind of customization you are suggesting raises overhead and costs. Is that really a smart move for a company to make in a time when their potential clients aren't as willing to part with their dollars?
Declining sales should signal to this computer makers that people who buys computer out of necessity is nearing its peak. They should now move to the casual consumer who buys a computer beyond necessity like a fashion statement or convenience. The last one is important, convenience is driving the netbook growth because people who buys it knows the benefits from lightweight, cheap, and sometimes fashionable too. You can read countless reviews that people who buys netbook already owns a laptop that is 15" to 17" inches wide or has a desktop. They buy it because they find it cheap and lightweight - very convenient for them financially and logically.
So, yea - Reisinger is right on calling this one out. If the computer makers don't make a move during this recession to re-evaluate itself then the economy will surely make the decision for them to either exist or not in the future. The one computer company I see having trouble in this economy is HP because they don't have a strong presence in the netbook segment and their sales is declining in the full-sized laptop segment. HP should really push hard because their market share is looking smaller and smaller as Samsung, MSI, Acer, and Lenovo eats away the low-end laptop market because after they own that segment they can only go higher, so where will HP go?
Initially, I thought Win 7 had promise. However, the more I work with it, the more Vista like it has become. And, I'm getting sick of it already. The only think that I still like is pinning apps to the task bar.....like OSX. I hate the constant barriers being thrown up every time I try to update applications. Even with the UAC turned completely off, it still nags about access rights & privileges.
Vista needs to be put to bed and if Microsoft wants to make a new operating system take a few pointers from the team and Apple that make Mac OSX. If I had it my way I would completely change the entire campus over to Apple computers.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/153624/under_the_hood_windows_7_is_vistas_twin.html
when you look at core components, Win7 is nothing but Vista SP3... or as Microsoft has stated its Windows 6.1 (Vista was 6.0)
I've been testing Win7 against Vista and XP as part of a consultative project... I can tell you that its clearly not just vista with bugs ironed out.
In my performance tests i'm seeing net changes in processor usage, memory efficiency (like ~50% less memory utilization!) and a lot of optimization in general. Many of these changes couldnt be done without tinkering with the kernel. And the single most impressive thing i've found is that all this testing is being done on 5yr+ old HW.. even netbooks... so if you dont like windows, i have no problem with that, but dont rely on blind faith in blog writers and mag/rag articles for the whole story...
hehe.. picking up on your "since the start of the school year" u must work for some sort of educational institution.
If I were in your shoes I wouldnt want windows in my environment too... Macs are designed as Appliances which means you only have to come up with a single working configuration and then you can sit back and relax. Windows is a true multiplatform OS which relies on many different configurations.. so yeah given the choice of using 1 system i would take it too.. but I'd point out whether your beef is with Windows or the fact that the different hardware is more your issue.
As far as the customization and NewEgg reference goes, you're completely keeping out of mind the thousands to millions of people that don't want to bother building their own PC from scratch and/or the less-tech-savvy. Not everyone wants to build their own PC... that's why they will be paying PC manufacturers to build it for them. If you throw in even more customization capability, you could tweak your Dell, HP, or what-have-you as much as you want without having to worry about ordering separate parts, learning how to put one together, or even have the chances of messing anything up or buying the wrong part. There are lazy and cautious people out there. Don is looking out for those guys, I think.
More OS choices would be a cool thing too... and lessening the prices for less bloatware would be awesome. What if you already have a copy of Windows or Ubuntu or Office or whatever? Why spend more on redundant licenses of software, or even software that you're never going to use? Wouldn't companies save money by NOT offering extraneous software, or do they really earn quite a bit from software companies by including them?
that's why you have someone order parts off of Newegg and build a PC for you, that gives you nearly as much customization as building yourself
talk to your local builder, (s)he'll be glad to help
Similarly if you look at the fact that dell is giving people color customization options on their laptops you will notice it costs more. That is because there is more personnel overhead to track those customizations and make sure they were done correctly, there is the fact that if you maintain a large variety (which I presume you would want), then economics of scale dictate that the less popular options are going to be more expensive because Dell wouldn't be able to purchase as many of the less popular items at a time.
The research and development angle I agree with you on, but I do not think that is a computer industry phenomenon. In any downturn you want to invest in R&D to cut overhead, and to differentiate yourself from the competition, while at the same time fighting off the fear of spending yourself into failure. Downturns breed conservative spending habits among execs. While I agree this hope is more well placed than the others you're just not going to get it.
I agree that HP's laptops are looking dated. Their newer ones look similar to the older ones and nothing about them makes me take a second look. I think there is hope with Voodoo.
Apple's look great, as always, but what really caught my eye was Dell Adamo. It's Mac-esque, but it has enough to differentiate itself. I thought it looked great.
" I want to be able to change every last bit of it."
This seems like Dell to me. They are very customizable and their designs are improving. What they need to do is get their customer service right and improve quality (everyone can always improve quality, but Dell more so).
So it seems like Dell is in a good position. Only problem is, they have a bad stigma with me and I doubt I'll purchase another Dell in the future.
This thing weighs only 4 lbs and has a nice 14" screen. And if you are hard on your electronics, it has military specs: meets the Military Standard 810F for vibration, dust, humidity, altitude, and high temperature. This notebook actually senses a freefall and locks down the hard-drive to brace for impact--and then withstands reasonable impacts!
I know, I just wrote a commercial, but I'm really very happy wth this purchase, from design to performance. Great job HP, you have a new customer!
Oh and amen to the "inserting the recovery disc is not a viable solution" bit...
Customization on desktops is likely to be easily done. Laptops not so much. The designs are mostly controlled by the ODM (original design manufacturer) like compal or sager. I'm still trying to determine the ODM of my new Gateway so I can see the core specs.
Hey why not go the way of the dumb cell phones and make removable face plates for the computer fashionista crowd. Elegant? Pffft.
I also do agree that we should be able to customize our computers from inside to out including the looks as well. We shouldn't stuck with a DELL case, just because we purchase the item from dell, we should be able to get any case we want, and have it customized to our liking, as well, What I find hard to justify is when you go to websites for example when I wanted a computer at I purchased mine from Gateway and I configured the same computer at DELL - Dell wanted more than 4000 for the computer I put into it, and Gateway was only 2700 you can certainly tell which way I went, the prices should have been close to the same, especially when they were pretty much the same customizations! There will be a point where consumers don't wnat to continue to shell out money for a new computer every couple of years, and so the computer industry needs to come up with away to make a computer last longer, because at some point they won't want to keep upgrading, and people will want a computer to last longer and longer. Even those who don't have a lot of money can't afford to constantly upgrade their systems, I mean come on, They should be thinking about the long term, what they can do to help, so that so many computers don't end up in scrap piles either in some foreign country. Computers are great, I wish I had had them when I was in school, back in the 80's it would have helped me a lot, but they need to start thinking about what happens when people don't want to upgrade anymore, because they want to save money and not spend it. Thanks
- by callmehal May 27, 2009 9:22 AM PDT
- In all this you continually ignore the basic facts. Microsoft provides the same crappy OS for all the 'differentiated' platforms and Intel provides the same serviceable motherboard and chip options. All innovation is on a schedule going out years and it's incremental. There is no innovation just refinement until you get to the point that there is no life left in the platform.
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