It has been a while since my last post about Windows 8 and declining PC sales. During this time, the debate first seemed to settle down, probably because everybody was happy that the start button will return in Windows 8.1. Now that the Windows 8.1 release date has been announced, it is reported that PC sales keep declining. I am not surprised, but will be happy to be proved wrong eventually.
As written, hardware improvements can’t keep the sales up. Enthusiasts may buy the latest stuff no matter what, otherwise the performance gained by upgrading to the latest generation of CPU won’t make a big difference when reading mail and browsing the internet.
And what do you get when you buy a PC? A box with a standard Windows installation, perhaps a trial version of antivirus and MS Office, plus a bit of bloatware from the vendor.
It is all very generic. I don’t remember how sales of Apple’s Macs are developing compared to Windows PCs, but if you pick an Apple, you get something special,
And two points in that sentence says it all:
- It is Apple or Windows, not Apple or Asus or HP or…
- I believe that Apple is special. I have never owned one and don’t plan to get one, but I am certain that the Apple owners are getting something different and that the difference matters to them.
Compare that with the to the mobile phone market, which has many contenders, some big some small. Here it is not just Apple vs. Android vs. Windows Phone vs. BlackBerry vs. etc. It is Apple vs. Samsung vs. Nokia vs. HTC vs. LG etc.
Why this difference in product perception? Well, consider these three: Hardware, Software and Branding.
Hardware
Buy a desktop PC in a store and you go home with boxes made out of plastic or metal, which is not particularly pretty and it looks the same regardless of the vendor. If you buy a mobile phone, each vendor has a special design that goes across the product line. One reason for buying phone X is that is looks good.
Software
A new PC comes with standard Windows and trial versions of third party software. Additional software provided by the vendor is seldom useful, poorly documented and the user interface reminds you of the wild days of Win 3.1. Buy a smart phone and the vendor will provide special versions of core applications for email and browser, and often bundle a good, free office suite; as well as a number of popular third party apps like Facebook. In fact, the amount of vendor software bundled with Android phones has reached the point where several top models are also being sold in a special Google version for anyone who wants to see the standard Google version.
Branding
The new Samsung Galaxy is not just a smart phone, it is a Life Companion. The HTC One is a Changemaker. With an LG Optimus you Live without Boundaries and Connect & Share Like a Pro. A PC is a PC is a PC…
I don’t believe total PC sales will change a lot if vendors started diversifying like smartphones have, but I do believe that a vendor that provides some special extra will fare better than those that don’t.