Mobile And The Death of the Desktop Computer
The numbers just don't lie. The market for PCs continues its precipitous drop in sales last year. According to a recent Gartner report, worldwide PC shipments totaled 68.4 million units in Q2 2015, a 9.5 percent dip from Q2, 2014. The report further predicts an overall decline of 4.4 percent in 2015.
The biggest drop in nearly two years, market researchers have reported, once again reaffirming that personal computers are on their way out and mobile is taking it's place.
An interesting statistic by researchers at IDC, stated that 66.1 million PCs had been shipped in the 2nd quarter of 2015. What is interesting is that Apple noted that it had sold 61 million iPhones during that same quarter. I do not have the numbers for tablets and other smart phone makers, but I think it is safe to say that over 120 million new mobile devices hit the streets in 2015.
Apple revenue also reflects the growing trend away from desktop computers. Of Apple's revenue for the 2nd quarter of 2015, Macs accounted for less that 10% of the total revenue. The iPhone was almost 70% of that total.
The trend lines continue to go down for the PC market, there is no denying it. Mobile has effectively dominated the hardware environment. And that is now being reflected across the internet with responsive website design, and Google's recent announcement of their focus on search results for mobile devices. Facebook has also announced in their last share holders meeting that mobile was their main focus moving forward.
I was looking through our website analytics this afternoon and was surprised to see mobile devices topping the list of how users accessed our website. Users on the move and using their mobile devices to get information on demand in real time.
And that paradigm shift from a stationary computing platform, to a mobile device is a natural one if you think about it. This shift is not being forced upon us from some higher authority. It is a natural organic shift that is taking place as technology continues to improve the mobile experience.
And why?
Who wants to sit in a cubicle inside an office under fluorescent lights for 8 hours? If you are like me, you want to get outside and interact with others. Go to the cafe down the street or local library where others are working on their mobile devices and real collaboration can take place. Interacting with others, whether from your work place or not, can and does trigger new ways of thinking, which in the end leads to new ways of doing business and ultimately an increase in productivity.
The world is hungry for this opportunity to break free of the walls of the office and start to interact with each other in new and exciting ways. It's almost Darwinian.
Mobile.
I've gone over the benefits of bringing a business 100% mobile in previous website posts here. The brief is:
Cost efficiency
Reduction of maintenance requirements
Flexibility and scalability of resources
On demand user administration
24/7 user support
Off-site backup of critical data
Regular maintenance and software upgrades
Employee mobility anywhere, anytime
Freedom to focus on core business
At this point, it is worth the time and effort for IT departments to take a hard look at this opportunity, and at a minimum do some cost/productivity comparisons. We are definitely past the days of early adoption, with many larger companies now taking the steps to move in the direction of cloud-based desktops, apps and file storage. Hensel Phelps, Turner Construction are a couple of our client names that come to mind.
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