AS LAPTOP AND DESKTOP sales plummet, some PC manufacturers are wading out of their comfort zones in hopes of breathing life back into the market.
Two recent examples:
Toshiba, a manufacturer perhaps best known for midrange PCs at competitive prices, took a swing at the ultrapremium market with the Kirabook, a thin and light laptop with an ultrahigh resolution display on a par with Apple's Retina-packing MacBook Pros And HP placed a big bet on futuristic motion controls, announcing that it will bundle Leap Motion controllers with select PCs. embedding the technology directly into future devices.
Other PC makers are trying their own experiments. Acer has teased about a “unique notebook" that may be able to convert into a desktop with a raised touchscreen. Meanwhile. Asus has launched a desktop that transmogrifies into a gigantic detachable Android tablet, and Lenovo is preparing a tabletop touch screen PC designed with digital board games in mind.
These are early signs of a sea change among PC makers, companies that for years subsisted on selling unremarkable products - spec lists and price tags, with no major distinguishing features. That strategy no longer works in the age of tablets.
PC makers are being forced to experiment because the traditional laptop and desktop markets are drying up. Unit sales are in decline, and so are revenues. HP saw its PC revenues fall by 8 percent last quarter, and Toshiba endured a 16 percent decline in PC sales during its 2012 fiscal year due to falling demand in the United States.
But don't blame Windows 8 alone for the PC industry's woes. PC sales were on the decline before Microsoft's operating system went on sale, largely because tablets have altered people's purchasing decisions.
As Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa notes, most households no longer feel the need to have a laptop or desktop for each person. Instead, people are buying tablets for content consumption, and hanging onto one or two household PCs for productivity. Computers have become like household appliances: Users replace them only when necessary.
The PC's not going to be an everyday device for most consumers, "Kitagawa says, looking ahead. Tablets will probably take that position."
So PC makers are turning more attention to producing premium PCs, designed to attract shoppers who want a product built to last.
Toshiba's Kirabook and Acer's upcoming laptopdesktop crossover are examples of that trend, Kitagawa says. But selling these new premium brands won’t be easy. Acer, for example, cemented its reputation for dirt-cheap laptops in the netbook era. That may explain why the company is using a Star Trek tie-in to promote its next premium PC.
All of this is not to say that PC makers are ignoring the low end of the market Later this year, consumers can expect touch-enabled Windows 8 notebooks running on Intel's Bay Trail processors. at prices as low as $200, along with touch-enabled Ultrabooks selling in the S500-to-$600 range.
Still, whether such budget Windows 8 devices can compete with Apple's iPads and cheap tablets like Amazon’s Kindle Fire is unknown.
Meanwhile, PC makers will try to sell relatively expensive machines - which is why we'll see more interesting products aimed at grabbing shoppers'attention.
To sell, a high-end PC needs to stand out.
Difficult Times, Desperate Measures
Granted. PC makers have always included expensive products in their lines; but in the past, the price differences have typically reflected variations in component speeds. The higher the price, the heftier the hardware inside: It was as sim pie as that. But PC makers are focusing now on unique features, rather than on raw performance, to justify higher prices.
Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, sees PC makers’ interest in experimentation as an offshoot of what began last year with Windows 8 hybrids and convertibles. HP's Leap Motion devices and Acer’s convertible notebook are part of a "second wave" intended to make the PC cool again.
Over the next year or so, Moorhead expects PC makers to refine those hybrid designs. while also introducing new technologies, such as eye-tracking, voice commands, and wireless connectivity. to larger displays.
Tablets can’t compete with the power or profit margins of high-end laptops, making pricier products a possible safe haven for PC makers. But first, manufacturers must convince consumers that dropping the extra bucks in these cash-strapped times is a worthwhile investment.
Will such gambles pay off?
We won't know for sure for some time. One thing is certain, however: PC makers, finally, are thinking outside the ho-hum black box.
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