Vikash is wrong and Oh yes!!! The Post PC era has started, and Apple is leading us very quickly into this era. With the evolution of iPad, the iPhone and a number of Android smartphones and tablets, there is not a shadow of doubt that the post PC era has started. PC World reports that the PC sales are expected to rebound in 2012 and that there is still a lot of scope left for the PC and I doubt.
To reiterate my point, I would like to segment the PC/Post PC users:
- The surfers/entertainment addict : This is the biggest section of the current PC users who basically use the PC for internet surfing, listening to music, socializing, watching movies, and possibly for paying their bills. This section doesn’t need a PC at all. All they need is a smartphone and possibly an iPad (Android tablets are not yet worth a mention).
- The excel/powerpoint lover : This is the category of people who are still stuck to the PC for some spreadsheet work but would love to make those presentations on the tablets. He still can’t make a presentation with his iPad or his smartphone but will soon be able to. We should see projection capabilities in the iPads sooner rather than later. If we go by the mozilla concept series, presentation capabilities may get ported into smartphones too.
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- The enterprise user: The enterprise user made a shift to the Blackberry, and is making his shift to the iPhones and the Androids very quickly. In the meanwhile, various people have reported how the enterprise user is looking at iPad’s as an important option to eliminate the PC. Certain report are here, here and here.
- The media people and the bloggers: The media and the bloggers are using iPads and iPhones to take pics, capture videos and do a lot more. They however, still have to depend on the external keyboard or their PC to write stuff down. However, it can be safely said that more than 80 to 90% of their work gets done through their post PC devices.
- The granny/The mommy/The housewife/The Readers: They are just not bothered about the PC once they are introduced to this magic device called the iPad. They just want to read a couple of fashion/medical tips, read a few articles here and there and carry it with them in their bags/purses as per their needs.
- The Developers: Actually, this is the only segment of people who need PCs. They need the SDK’s, the developer tools and of-course a keyboard to get their job done. This segment, however a big chunk, can’t form more than 25% of the entire user-base. Also, with the quick increase in the capabilities of the tablets, we can safely assume that very soon we will have developer friendly iPad clones (Think Android!).
PC World and a lot of other PC lovers can make a million charts and a million other analyses, but the above segmentation makes it clear how the PC market has only one way to go, and that is down. Welcome to the Post PC World.
For those who want to keep the PC era alive, here goes a difference(Source:Forrester Report)
Get in touch with the writer at mitra[dot]arkid[at]gmail[dot]com.
P.S : For those who still think that Netbooks/Ultrabooks is a segment(now dominated by Macbook Airs);Please take a look at these numbers.
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