There"s been a lot of talk and speculation that as more and more people embrace purchasing tablets, PC sales will also decline. Indeed, we are supposed to be living in a "post-PC" era, according to some experts.
Forrester Research has a slightly different take on the matter. The research organization posted a new report this week that gives its predictions on how tablet sales will increase over the next several years. However, the most interesting thing about the report is how it gauges the sales of desktop PCs during this time period.
Forrester predicts that there will still be a whopping two billion PCs in use worldwide by 2016, even as it also claims that annual tablet sales will increase to 375 million worldwide that same year, with a total install base of 760 million by that same year. In a separate blog post, Forrester"s Frank Gillett states:
That’s because tablets only partially cannibalize PCs. Eventually tablets will slow laptop sales but increase sales of desktop PCs. That’s because many people, especially information workers, will still need conventional PCs for any intensely creative work at a desk that requires a large display or significant processing power.
If Forrester"s prediction comes true, that"s good news for Microsoft, who will have its hands in both the desktop and tablet space with Windows 8.
The full report is unavailable to the general public. Venture Beat has apparently seen the report and it says that, according to Forrester"s predictions, Apple"s iPad will still have a third of the tablet marketplace by 2016. It also predicts that sales of Windows 8 tablets will take over some of the market share away from tablets that use Google"s Android operating system.
However, the same report claims sales won"t really begin to take off for Windows 8-based tablet products until 2014. That"s because the report believes Microsoft still needs to make its Metro user interface more compelling for users.
Image via Forrester