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By now you should’ve heard that PC sales haven’t exactly been booming. In the first quarter, IDC estimated that PC shipments fell 13.9% year over year, marking the worst quarterly decline ever for the PC industry. Between tablets that are cannibalizing the low-end notebook and the lackluster reaction to Microsoft‘s Windows 8, it’s not surprising to hear that the PC has seen better days. Despite Microsoft‘s efforts to expand its reach in mobile, the health of the PC industry remains central to the company’s overall profitability and growth prospects.

With Windows 8, Microsoft attempted to reorient the PC experience to embrace an increasingly mobile and touch-friendly world. However, the sales pace of Windows 8 hasn’t exactly been stellar. Thus far, Windows 8 is shaping up to be one of Microsoft’s biggest flops, surpassing Windows Vista in the process. In other words, Microsoft needs to find a way to reverse the trend and get users to wholeheartedly embrace the modernized Windows experience.

Here’s how Microsoft could prevent Windows 8 from being an epic failure.

Kill Windows RT
Windows RT has been a nightmare since the beginning. It has utterly confused consumers since there are inherent differences between the full version of Windows 8 and Windows RT. For one, Windows RT devices are powered by ARM Holdings designs, which to the consumer means that legacy Windows applications are not compatible. However, devices powered by ARM offer the promise of smaller form factors and improved battery life over Intel -powered designs.

Microsoft has done a poor job relaying these and other subtleties between Windows 8 and Windows RT to consumers. The Verge investigated the topic and found that Microsoft failed to properly educate its employees, which naturally damaged consumer perceptions about the product. As a result of this confusion, Samsung decided not to launch any Windows RT devices in the U.S. and stopped RT sales in Germany. Acer has delayed introducing any Windows RT devices in the U.S. until it had a better sense of how Microsoft Surface RT sales fared. When major OEM partners don’t even want to embrace Windows RT, how can Microsoft really make it a success story?

If only Microsoft would have just stuck with Intel’s x86 architecture the whole time …

Introduce a $200 Windows 8 tablet
Not only would a $200 Windows 8-powered tablet do wonders for Microsoft’s mobile prospects, but it would also probably give Apple and Google a run for their money in the tablet space. Both Apple’s and Google’s tablet experience lack the level of productivity that that would be possible on a Windows 8 tablet powered by Intel’s upcoming Bay Trail processor. With a few added peripherals, such a device could become an impromptu, yet highly capable, PC in a pinch.

Speaking of Bay Trail, the future of the PC also hinges on Intel’s ability to introduce technology that enables a compelling

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

By Dan Carroll, The Motley Fool

Filed under: Investing

Up the markets go to a new record high this Thursday in a trend we’ve become used to. Bullish investors may have earlier predicted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could climb to the 15,000 mark by the end of the year, but now it could hit that by the end of the week, given a stellar session tomorrow. As of 2:25 p.m. EDT, the blue-chip index has picked up 52 points, or 0.35%, despite a devastating report on PC sales that has sent shockwaves through the tech sector. Let’s catch up on what you need to know.

Is the PC down for the count?
It’s no secret that the PC‘s rein atop the consumer market has been dismantled by the rise of mobile, but today’s IDC report on last quarter’s PC sales showed the worst decline in recorded history. IDC, a research firm that has tracked sales since 1994, reported that PC shipments fell 14% during the quarter — far more than the 7.7% the firm had predicted. The number of PCs shipped was the lowest since mid-2009, and the dismal quarter marked the fourth straight quarter of falling year-over-year PC shipments.

Nothing’s working for companies tied to this withering market. Despite Microsoft 8’s launch and the development of ultrabooks, PCs continued to fall out of favor. It’s an ominous trend for leading firms in the industry, and PC-concentrated stocks on the Dow have been bombed today. Shares of Hewlett-Packard are down 6.5%, while Microsoft and Intel are down 4.9% and 2.7%, respectively.

Intel is struggling, but the chip maker’s efforts to expand into other markets — such as its recent interest in developing an Internet TV service — have helped to reduce its heavy position in the PC market. Microsoft and HP are in real danger, however. The former’s advance into the mobile market with the Surface tablet and Windows 8 has been met with a yawn, and Microsoft will need to find a successful way to pivot away from the dying PC industry. Meanwhile, HP‘s turnaround has inspired optimism this year as shares have surged, but the rapid fall in PC sales could reverse that trend despite the company’s attempts to diversify.

Still, the Dow has managed to look past the tech sector’s woes today, and the vast majority of member stocks are in the green. Pfizer continues its run higher, with shares up 2.3% to lead the surging Dow. The FDA’s award of breakthrough therapy status to developmental breast-cancer drug palbociclib is a good sign for a company in need of new high-profile drugs after patent expirations have hurt sales. Some analysts have pegged the drug’s annual peak sales at a whopping $5 billion, providing some future revenue punch for this big drugmaker.

Is there hope for vulnerable Intel?
When it comes to dominating markets, it doesn’t get much better than Intel’s position in the PC microprocessor arena. However, Intel must

From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/11/why-the-dows-tech-stocks-met-the-blue-screen-of-de/

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