Geekwire’s Todd Bishop has published a hilarious chart showing how tablets are really doing in the so-called “post-PC” world: They’re getting killed by PC sales. But I think Todd’s chart points to a Terminator-like Judgment Day for the PC, too. And if current trends remain unchanged, the PC gets killed off by the tablet in Q4 2014.
“The chart shows the trends over the past two years, with traditional PCs, primarily running Windows, still shipping far more units than tablets,” Mr. Bishop writes. “However, the PC shipment trends are flat overall, in contrast with the steady growth in shipments of iPads and other tablets.”
Here’s the chart he supplies:
But what happens if sales of PCs, iPads, Android tablets, and Macs continue along the exact same growth trajectories? Will these non-PC devices ever surpass PCs? Yes, of course. And it will happen a lot sooner than I expected, in Q4 2014.
Here’s my revised version of the chart, which was made with the “Accu-touch” tools in Windows 8. By which I mean Paint.
Now, this assumes nothing changes. It’s possible that PC sales nosedive, or not, and that tablet sales grow even faster … or not. That’s what makes this stuff fun.
Thanks for the chart, Todd.