What's That Big Off-White Box On Your Desk, Grandma?
If you're not running a state of the art gaming rig, or looking at pictures of your grandchildren, you're not interested in a desktop computer anymore.
With overall PC sales expected to slow sharply next year, the biggest action is shifting to the smallest machines. Just look at the numbers. Current Analysis, a research firm that tracks PC sales, found that revenue from laptop sales at major retailers it surveyed climbed 25% in the week that ended Nov. 25 from the same week the year before. Consumers seized deals such as the ones offered on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, at three of the biggest computer chains--Best Buy (BBY ), Circuit City (CC ), and CompUSA. They advertised notebooks for under $400.
And desktop PCs? In the same week, desktop sales fell 2%. The actual number of desktops sold in the year through October dropped 5%, according to researcher NPD Group Inc. Notebook shipments were up 35% during that period. "Desktops are in trouble," says Samir Bhavnani, research director at Current Analysis. "They are going to get marginalized to the very high end and the very low end of the market."
Perhaps game developers will come up with a game where you shoot the elderly with pictures of their grandchildren, and corner the entire market.
