TheMailMan78I've been saying this for a while and some of the veterans on here said I was full of it. I still am but I was right about this. Towers are going the way of the ham radio. Tablets and laptops are the future.

Red_MachineSo does this still mean they won't be competing with Intel anymore?

twilythDesktops will always have their place since you simply can't get the same performance in a laptop. Heat dissipation is the main thing although as we hit smaller nodes like 22nm, that will certainly be less of a problem. I think the desktop market growth probably will stagnate though. And for the normal end user, certainly they can get by just fine with a powerful laptop - even if they do some heavy number crunching. But you're definitely correct in terms of where the growth will be. However I would still love to see AMD gain some server market share since that trickles down to people like me who do distributed computing like F@H and WCG.

SteevoIts only shrunk as the needs of the normal user are farmville, facebook, sk ype and email. While mobile devices are good at these also most users still use a older desktop to do it. Once they die they will be back to walmart to buy another as battery life, cables and cords, and accessories still are a part of mobile devices.

digibucci don't understand the question? of course things will continue to get smaller and more intricate, that's what happens with product design.

i mean what exactly are you saying mm? we are coming fast to a time when a computer that doesn't have an integrated display will no longer exist? or simply that desktops as we know them are changing?

they've been changing since the beginning. keeping in line with design changes, i'd say the only thing that definitively makes a desktop a desktop is that you have to plug a display in. i don't think those are going to go anywhere. though obviously they will be relegated to enthusiast circles, they will also have a definitive place in many other situations. not every computer is for individual personal use.

but these large metal towers? they will continue to change, and i do agree they will change more rapidly, to become smaller and more complicated :)

digibuccagain though, what exactly are you saying:

computers that need an external display will no longer exist
or
personal desktop computers will become rare.
or
something else?

i don't disagree with what you're saying, but to what end? i don't think the ability to buy computer parts and build your own is going to go away. a tower is just the incarnation , that can change and it doesn't mean desktops are no longer in existence.

apple sells preconfigured machines that the end user can't change much about (while adhering to the agreement) to me that's not what this is about. dell and gateway and apple not selling towers to every consumer does not mean to me that the desktop pc has died.

as long as i can buy a case and parts, and build my own - and have choices and options while doing so, then it's just a new version of the same thing.

TheMailMan78That's not true. They are getting to the point where heat and size a desktop is no longer needed. As development continues things will get smaller/cooler. Why have a desktop when a tablet will have the same horse power?

The desktop market has not only gone stagnant. Its shrunk and its a trend that's gonna continue.

twilythSorry but you're wrong. It has declined since 2008, but what else happened in 2008? Remember the recession? Up until 2008 it had grown but growth was anemic. That anemic growth will continue. See table 1.2

www.etforecasts.com/products/ES_pcww1203.htm

The success of the iPad is rapidly making Apple a contender for the top unit sales slot by 2012. In the current forecast Apple's iPad and Macintosh PC will surpass HP's PC sales in 2012 or 2013

TheMailMan78Look at tablet 1.1 market segments. Shows a decline in desktops by 2015.

Tablet 1.2 shows company sales. Sales that include laptops and tablets. Under that is the quote....



So if Apple is getting out of the tower segment and is about to beat out a top two vendor in sales what does that tell you?

twilythThat's sales by region. It doesn't break out desktops. That's in table 1.2 under section 1.1

If that's what you're talking about, I already said it has declined from 2008 and explained why.

If you're comparing to 2005, the 2015 projects are less, but those are projections. I think their numbers are probably conservative. Just look at the server numbers. With cloud computing, I'm willing to bet that 2015 number will be substantially higher.

TheMailMan78Servers sure. But with cloud computing you are gonna need WAY less desktop power. Computers will be more thermals then anything else. I'm willing to bet most gaming will be done streaming in the near future. There are already services being tested for exactly that. Hell I bet consoles will go that way soon. Cheaper and easier to control distribution. Also less reason to develop high end desktop component's.

Edit: That small growth screams market plateau.

twilythAs I said - stagnation. That's the only point I'm arguing with you.

I can certainly imagine people having a docking port for their smart phone and using that in place of a desktop or tablet. After all, you can't carry a 30" display around with you (not yet anyway). But I have no problem believing that a smart phone could replace the desktop for the average user.

OctaveanNone of this is a definitive indication that AMD will continue be a relevant company. I applaud their APU initiatives but the traditional desktop isn’t dead yet and ARM is looking like a very big player. They could be caught between a rock and a hard place real fast.

AMD needs to outperform both Intel and ARM SoC with respect to CPU / GPU performance in the mobile space and do so within a more efficient power envelope.

I guess my point is, the question isn’t the direction the industry is going in but if AMD will remain healthy enough to get there,….

twilythYou should have more respect for your feline overlords. Anyway, one of them went back to the mothership. Well, he never came back from the vet so I can only assume. :(

TheMailMan78Honestly the way the market is going AMD is way ahead of Intel until Intel gets a better APU.