Laptop sales set to outpace desktops

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2007-03-21 10:21pm

Laptops will overtake desktop PCs as the dominant form of computer in 2011, according to a report by analysts IDC.

The demand for bulky machines will continue to slowly grow but at a declining rate as portable machines become quicker and more efficient.

The report predicts the laptop market will grow by 16.1% year-on-year until 2011, compared to 3.8% for desktop PCs.

There will also be a short burst of desktop shipments over the next year as Microsoft rolls out Vista, it predicts.

Desktop decline

"The release of Vista and a desktop refresh will create some growth opportunity in late 2007 and early 2008, before resuming a declining growth trend in the out-years," said Doug Bell, analyst in IDC's personal computing program.

More than 82 million portable computers and nearly 140 million desktop PCs were shipped around the world in 2006, according to the report.

Compared to the previous year, the numbers of laptops shipped rose by 26.3% compared to less than 2% for desktop PCs.

The gradual shift away from fixed machines may reflect the needs of an increasingly mobile workforce and the ubiquity of wireless networks.

A recent US survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that the number of internet users with wireless at home nearly doubled, from one out of 10 in January 2005 to one in 5 by December 2006.

The same survey found that 80% of laptops had wireless capabilities and 88% of laptop users used a wireless network at home.

Last year, a report by research firm Current Analysis found that 2005 was the first year that laptops outsold desktop computers in the US.

The latest report from IDC indicates that the appetite for computers on the move is set to continue.

"Portables are picking up some of the slack from Desktops," said Loren Loverde of IDC.

Not surprising. Laptops are getting cheaper and cheaper. I'm not personally going to run out and buy a new laptop but then my preferences aren't typical.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2007-03-21 10:44pm

It's certainly not surprising in the least. Most laptops these days are but a short step behind a comparable desktop. With performance and peripherals being equal, a laptop is a sensible buy for a lot of people. For work and low-end gaming they're just fine for most people; I suspect a lot of people will get laptops for the convenience.

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2007-03-21 10:50pm

I could have told you that, when I worked in retail they were just walking out the door. I imagine desktop PCs will always have a place in the enthusiast market though, that is until someone comes up with a standard generic laptop shell for third party motherboards.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-03-21 10:53pm

I imagine most people in the market don't actually want a hugely powerful l337zor system with 7.1 surround and a 32" screen. People my parent's age can get everything they need out of a middling laptop, but without the footprint and the convienience of wireless.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2007-03-21 11:15pm

Stark wrote:I imagine most people in the market don't actually want a hugely powerful l337zor system with 7.1 surround and a 32" screen.

Why can't we get that in a laptop?

PainRack · Post by **PainRack** » 2007-03-21 11:21pm

Not to mention that they're more usuable in work and school.....

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2007-03-22 02:53am

Praxis wrote:
Stark wrote:I imagine most people in the market don't actually want a hugely powerful l337zor system with 7.1 surround and a 32" screen.
Why can't we get that in a laptop?

You can but you'll get reamed in terms of price. Plus, lots of people who actually care enough to get a hot gaming desktop will probably be interested in being able to upgrade their computer piece by piece. Those who aren't... are likely to be the sort who don't give a damn about price and are willing to shell out for the hot gaming laptop anyway.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2007-03-22 09:41am

Stormbringer wrote:It's certainly not surprising in the least. Most laptops these days are but a short step behind a comparable desktop. With performance and peripherals being equal, a laptop is a sensible buy for a lot of people. For work and low-end gaming they're just fine for most people; I suspect a lot of people will get laptops for the convenience.

The convenience is pretty much what I got mine for. At $750, the only real problem I have with it is it's slightly harder to upgrade than your average desktop. Though most laptops will probably need a memory upgrade from their default, which tends to be skimpy.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-03-22 10:41am

Besides the price, gaming "laptops" tend not to be laptops at all. It's still nice not to have wires running everywhere, but those behemoth DTR's are not exactly what I'd call portable. I've never needed a laptop, but if I did ever get one, I'd get a small little sleek thing and stick to desktops for games.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2007-03-22 04:04pm

General Zod wrote:
Stormbringer wrote:It's certainly not surprising in the least. Most laptops these days are but a short step behind a comparable desktop. With performance and peripherals being equal, a laptop is a sensible buy for a lot of people. For work and low-end gaming they're just fine for most people; I suspect a lot of people will get laptops for the convenience.
The convenience is pretty much what I got mine for. At $750, the only real problem I have with it is it's slightly harder to upgrade than your average desktop. Though most laptops will probably need a memory upgrade from their default, which tends to be skimpy.

That's pretty much what I'm doing now. I have a good laptop that I use mostly for work and/or the times where I need to take a computer with me. I can run most work applications on it with out any problem. But games, only lower end games or older ones. Pretty much for memory.

On the other hand, my desktop serves as the gaming machine for the most part. It's got more power and memory, significantly more than my laptop despite being a bit older. I got it largely with the intent of using it for games and multi-media stuff.

It doesn't really surprise me that people are going for laptops more. They'll generally run most non-game applications these days with out a hitch and that's all the performance most people are really looking for. I think desktops will remain for multiple user families, basic business use (cubical farms, etc), and high end power applications (like gaming). Other than that these days laptops are relatively equal performers and signifcantly more convenient.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2007-03-22 04:07pm

Stormbringer wrote:
That's pretty much what I'm doing now. I have a good laptop that I use mostly for work and/or the times where I need to take a computer with me. I can run most work applications on it with out any problem. But games, only lower end games or older ones. Pretty much for memory.

Once I upgraded my laptop's memory, I've been able to run nearly every game I want except for the really new high-end titles. I can get Half Life 2 to run at an acceptable speed with the settings on low and medium, for example. I had to upgrade the ram to 2gb, but everything for the most part runs without a hitch. But since I tend to be slow about getting PC games, that's not really an issue for me. Everything else works incredibly smoothly.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-03-22 04:13pm

Half Life 2 is 2 1/2 years old, and it was designed to run on machines that were low-end when it came out. I played through about half the game on a GeForce 3 Ti200, and it looked and ran fine. Try running Supreme Commander on any portable, reasonably priced laptop and see what happens.

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 2007-03-22 10:45pm

I've been using laptops for the past 5 years... my desktop is 6 years old and isn't even plugged in... it's mostly a communications device for me, when i wanna play games I go to the consoles and play on my tv. No patch hell, comfortable controls and no constant up grading just to play a "killer game" plus a 52" screen pwns a 19-22" monitor any day of the week.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-03-23 02:30am

Careful, them's PC vs. console debate words.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2007-03-23 03:22am

For gamers, desktop machines will almost always be more desirable than a laptop simply because you can pack much more performance into a desktop video card than a laptop.
My desktop machine is an E6400 Core 2 Duo with 2 gigs of RAM and a low end (for a desktop machine) 256 Meg X1300 Pro video card, but it'll run rings around all but the most expensive laptops WRT gaming performance.
That'll change when nvidia and ATI figure out how to pack their bleeding edge GPU's into a notebook, but for now desktops rule that particular market segment.

Tolya · Post by **Tolya** » 2007-03-23 08:46am

I don't have a laptop - mostly because I don't need one. But Im also scared at the rate they lose their value - much faster than desktops. If I ever need a laptop I don't think I'll go for the fancy new ones - a simpler, aging system that will suffice for basic communication and word processing needs.