News

Report Forecasts Shrinking Reliance on PCs

• By Katrina Carrasco
• March 22, 2012

According to a Gartner analysis, PCs will no longer be the primary digital device for users by 2014. They will be replaced by personal cloud services that will allow for streaming of data to multiple devices.

Gartner Research Vice President Steve Kleynhans described the changing landscape that is driving this shift: "Major trends in client computing have shifted the market away from a focus on personal computers to a broader device perspective that includes smartphones, tablets and other consumer devices. Emerging cloud services will become the glue that connects the Web of devices that users choose to access during the different aspects of their daily life."

In their report, Gartner analysts identified five "megatrends" that are contributing to the shift toward the personal cloud:

• Consumerization. As users have become more technologically adept -- and more plugged into the Internet and social media -- they are demanding devices and connectivity on their own terms.
• Virtualization. Thanks to virtualization, users are no longer tied to specific devices or OSes, even in the workplace.
• "App-ification." User experience apps can be used to tweak existing applications so that they work on a greater range of devices and platforms.
• Self-Service Cloud. Personal, self-service clouds allow users to create virtual workspaces, tailored to their preferences and available on multiple devices, anytime and anywhere.
• Mobility Shift. Improved mobile devices -- including those equipped with touchscreens and other interactive UIs -- are increasingly able to perform traditionally PC-based tasks. Given this functionality, an array of mobile devices can be interchangeably used as primary devices while a user is on the go.

According to Kleynhans, "Users will use a collection of devices, with the PC remaining one of many options, but no one device will be the primary hub. Rather, the personal cloud will take on that role."

This new era in computing will have positive effects on the client computing space, the Gartner analysts report, as well as on users' personal digital lives.