Whereabouts of the booming PC market-How will the "new era of PCs" develop? (ZDNet Japan)-Yahoo! News

The direction of the booming PC market--Image of how the "new era of PC" will develop

　The number of PCs sold had been gradually declining for several years. The reason is clear. With the advent of smartphones and tablets, the one-size-fits-all approach offered by the PC no longer applies, especially to consumers. The pandemic changed that situation. Many people quickly realized that tablets and smartphones, while useful for watching videos and sending quick messages, were not very useful for long hours of work or study. Until something better is invented, the traditional combination of screen and keyboard is more suitable for creative work than the screen alone. As a result, PCs saw their fastest growth in a decade, with shipments rising 14% to 350 million units in 2021. One of the factors is that companies are buying laptops to replace inaccessible desktops that have been pushed to the back of the office. Families also purchased devices for entertainment and education during lockdown. By 2023, PC vendors are expected to sell more than 130 million more PCs than expected a few years ago. Sales numbers would have been even higher had it not been for the supply chain issues affecting the tech industry as a whole. Microsoft's Panos Panay has dubbed this phenomenon the new 'PC age', stating, 'There is a new hybrid infrastructure that spans work, school and life. We have more flexibility, and the hub for that is the PC." PCs seem to be popular again, but how long will this situation last? Of course, Microsoft seems to insist that this PC revival will last forever.

　"Windows currently supports more than 1.4 billion monthly active devices, and time spent on Windows has increased by 10% from pre-pandemic levels. According to our customer insights survey, The share of Windows increased this quarter, and the number of people who plan to use their PCs for creative, gaming, and work increased by nearly 50%.The number of people who think that PCs are useful for everyone in business, school, and home It's on the rise," Panay said. What can be said with certainty is that future technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), which were thought to be useful during the pandemic and lockdown, had almost no impact. Although the PC was required to respond to the rapid evolution of suitable collaboration tools such as "Zoom" and "Microsoft Teams", the familiar form and functionality of the past won out. And now, tens of millions more PCs are in use at home than would have been possible had the pandemic not occurred. Of course, Mr. Panay expects this situation to continue. "Windows will continue to be the engine of innovation, the destination for gaming, creation and exploration, and the gateway to the Metaverse," he argues. But what if normal life finally returns? Will these new laptops get dusty again? That's a possibility, because as travel restrictions are eased, more people will be freed from their home offices to go out again. That may not be the case, however, as remote work and remote education continue to take hold in the new hybrid world. Certainly, the days when the PC was the only technology and the main device were long gone. But the unexpected resurgence of the PC may serve as a reminder that we can't just use technology passively. Technology isn't just there to absorb what's projected on a small screen. We should remember that we can create with it. This article is an article from overseas Red Ventures edited by Asahi Interactive for Japan.