Opportunity in Hybrid Tablets and Refresh of PCs, According to Intel

According to Intel, the PC is far from dead.

The North American Channel Manager for the company, Todd Garrigues, last week said that the PC is "not yet dead," and noted some good news for solution providers who are selling desktops and notebooks.

Garrigues said: "The North American channel in terms of [PC] shipments was actually up in the first half of this year."

Furthermore, Garrigues commented that the combination of consumption devices like smartphones and tablets, with creation and productivity devices like notebooks and desktops, can be placed into a new category: two-in-ones, or hybrid tablet-notebooks. The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix, a Windows 8 notebook with a detachable 11.6-inch display that serves as a standalone tablet, was showcased as an example of one such hybrid device.

There will be much growth in hybrids and convertibles, as they include both aspects of mobility and ease-of-use with the productivity features of a traditional PC. Garrigues went on to predict that the tablet-notebook would be a key product in the next year.

Millions of older PCs are still continuing to run, even with older versions of Windows and other outdated technology. Garrigues said: "Bottom line: There are 500 million PCs out there in the world that are four years [old] or older. So there's a great opportunity."

New improvements to software and hardware will push PC purchases and support solution providers in making the most of the PC refresh opportunity. Garrigues said that, for example, the newest Core microprocessors, code-named "Haswell," provide a vast improvement in battery life. Perceptual computing like face and voice recognition, and gesture and motion controls, were also noted by Garrigues as new features will drive the increase in PC sales.

Garrigues stated: "One piece of technology that I think everyone needs to pay attention to is perceptual computing." (CY) Link