Will there come a time when everyone has a PC and there is no reason to buy a new one? Are we already there? I mean, how fast does your PC need to be to check your email and search on Google? (Of course Microsoft is planning to force you to upgrade your hardware if you want to run Windows Vista in 2006.)
It is interesting to see a connection between buying a PC or buying a new TV. TV prices have really dropped recently but there are a whole lot of people who dont have an HDTV yet...
Another interesting factoid is that laptop prices have reached $400. Wow. Maybe that $100 laptop is only another year or so away. Then again, i dont see how anyone can make money on these low prices.
PC Industry Braces
For Weaker Sales Next Year
December 22, 2005
Personal-computer sales this year are headed for their weakest gain since 2001, according to the latest shipments data, and some industry executives worry that PC sales next year could be worse.
This year's estimated 6% increase in home-PC unit sales, down from a 10% gain last year, reflects increasing competition for consumer dollars from flat-panel televisions, experts say. TVs are pinching sales of midpriced PCs, and expected price cuts in the flat-panel offerings could make the PC business even tougher in 2006, they say.
This year's sales were bolstered by price cuts to as low as $398 for notebooks and $299 for desktop PCs. Notebook units edged desktop sales for the first time during Thanksgiving weekend, Mr. Baker says.
But also that weekend, he says, liquid-crystal display TVs selling for $200 and plasma TVs for $1,000 made their first appearance on the market. Such low-cost, flat-panel TVs are threatening what had been the sweet spot of the home-PC business -- midpriced, $800 to $1,000 PCs.
