PCs still the right choice for business, despite decline in sales, says Gartner

IOS or Android devices with keywords are very unlikely to replaced hybrids and laptops working on Windows operating systems. This has been reported by major analyst company Gartner.  PC shipments in the Middle East, Africa and Europe amounted to over 20 million units in the most recent quarter of 2015.

From the same quarter of 2014, there has been a decline of 17.4%. Gartner conducted a study about market share data, and came up with these results. According to the analyst firm, there was a major impact of the powerful US dollar on PC sales during this period.

The subsequent price increases and currency devaluation of computers continued to a huge contributor to the basic double digit PC decline in Africa. This was noted in the most recent quarter of 2015. Ranjit Atwal, Research Director, Gartner, believes that the trend would continue in the coming years.

According to Ranjit, about an year ago, three different regions recorded a substantial 21% growth. The boost occurred due to Microsoft’s Bing promotion. In the third quarter of 2015, most regions in Africa saw a significant decline.

In recent times, new Windows operating systems have been able to stimulate PC sales. Unfortunately, Windows 10 devices weren’t able to make a major impact on the number of PC shipments this time. It’s worth mentioning that Gartner pointed out that these devices weren’t readily available across Africa in this quarter.

According to some experts, the decline could also have been caused by Microsoft’s action to make the latest Windows operating system available for free in the form of a download. When it comes to hardware, existing computers should be able to work on the latest operating system without any problems. Thus, IT departments may not want to spend money on upgrading computer hardware.

In recent years, tablets have been getting extremely popular. However, they have also been behind in terms of sales. From an average IT perspective, the PC is only one of the many devices used by people to access corporate systems without any problems.

The availability of iOS and Android versions of Microsoft Office 365 and Exchange ActiveSync means most people don’t need a Windows laptop for standard office productivity tools. In addition to this, SaaS applications, such as Concur, Workday and Salesforce are considered multi platform. This means people don’t need Windows PCs to run these platforms.

While tablets have successfully hit the PC market hard, Ranjit believes that users working in business organizations still use PCs. These people need Windows operating systems for core activities, and aren’t ready to part ways. He even expects PC manufacturers to release a wide range of light and thin devices in the next few months.

Similarly, it’s believed that as more software and applications move to the cloud, IT departments will have to manage less desktop software. Rather than managing all the applications, IT teams will have to manage 80% of the programs on desktops. This could enhance the life of PCs for businesses. It remains to be seen how the market will react to technological changes, and what steps Microsoft will take to boost sales.