Tablet not to Blame for Lag in PC Sales—Both Remain Strong in Rentals

Remember back in April when Gartner and IDC said the recent dip in global PC sales was a result of the increasing popularity of tablets? Apparently, this is not the case according to one report by the NPD Group.

"Weak demand for consumer PCs was the main inhibitor of growth," said Mikako Kitigawa, principal analyst at Gartner, in a statement in April. "Low prices for consumer PCs, which had long stimulated growth, no longer attracted buyers. Instead, consumers turned their attention to media tablets and other consumer electronics."

Contrary to this notion, the report "Apple iPad Owner Study II" found the lagging PC sales were more directly correlated to the launch of Windows 7, and the subsequent jump in PC sales that followed as opposed to the increasing sales of the iPad, reported Chandler Harris from InformationWeek.

"The explosion of computer sales when Windows 7 launched, as well as the huge increase in netbook sales at that time, are much more to blame for weak consumer PC sales growth than the iPad," said Stephen Baker, VP of industry analysis at NPD. "Overall it appears that the vast majority of iPad purchases to date have been incremental to the consumer technology industry."

Of those new iPad owners (having owned the tablet for six months or less), about 14 percent had made the purchase in place of a PC—a number that dropped two percentage points over the holiday season. Further, netbook "cannibalization" dropped 50 percent among new iPad owners compared to those "early adopters."

Here at Vernon Computer Source, where we supply both PC and tablet rentals, we’ve definitely seen an increase in the popularity of iPad and iPad 2, the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Motorola Xoom. However, our PCs are still in heavy demand for companies planning training seminars, conferences and other events who don’t want to outright purchase the computers, but instead rent them for short periods when necessary.

"The conventional wisdom that says tablet sales are eating into low-priced notebooks is most assuredly incorrect," Baker said. "The over-$500 Windows consumer notebooks market is where PC sales have been impacted the most, with a 25 percent decline from October 2010 to March 2011."