Editing Desktop computer (section)

===Decline===
[[File:Laptops in store 20170514.jpg|thumb|Laptops in store]]
While desktops have long been the most common configuration for PCs,<ref name="extremetech.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.extremetech.com/computing/145465-pc-sales-are-in-decline-and-in-an-alarming-way-for-the-first-time|title=PC sales are in decline, and in an alarming way for the first time|work=ExtremeTech|date=January 11, 2013 |last1=Plafke |first1=James }}</ref> by the mid-2000s the growth shifted from desktops to laptops.<ref name="nytimes2006">{{cite news|last=Darlin |first=Damon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/15/technology/15dell.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all& |title=Falling Short of A+ – New York Times |work=The New York Times |date=2006-06-15 |access-date=2012-10-30}}</ref> Laptops had long been produced by [[contract manufacturer]]s based in Asia, such as [[Foxconn]], and this shift led to the closure of the many desktop assembly plants in the United States by 2010. Another trend around this time was the increasing proportion of inexpensive base-configuration desktops being sold, hurting PC manufacturers such as [[Dell]] whose build-to-order customization of desktops relied on upselling added features to buyers.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1014_3-6155185.html |title=Michael Dell back as CEO; Rollins resigns – CNET News |website=CNET |date=2007-01-31 |access-date=2012-10-30}}</ref>

Battery-powered portable computers had just a 2% worldwide market share in 1986.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LA&p_theme=la&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EF513A9C40DA46F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|url-access=registration|title=Lap-top computers gain stature as power grows|work=Daily News of Los Angeles (CA)|date=12 April 1987|access-date=September 30, 2016|via=Newslibrary.com}}</ref> However, laptops have become increasingly popular, both for business and personal use.<ref name="Computer Economics, Inc">{{cite web | url=http://www.computereconomics.com/article.cfm?id=1084 | title=The Falling Costs of Mobile Computing | publisher=Computer Economics, Inc. | work=Falling Costs of Mobile Computing Drive Corporate Adoption | date=December 2005 | access-date=September 30, 2016 | archive-date=February 24, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224213138/https://www.computereconomics.com/article.cfm?id=1084 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
Around 109 million notebook PCs shipped worldwide in 2007, a growth of 33% compared to 2006.<ref name="ssev2011-09-12">[http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080131PD209.html Worldwide notebook shipments grow 33% on year in 2007, says IDC], 31 January 2008, Yen Ting Chen, DigiTimes, retrieved at 12 September 2011</ref>
In 2008, it was estimated that 145.9 million notebooks were sold and that the number would grow in 2009 to 177.7 million.<ref name="ee2009-01-10">[http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=YN1M2POYEMEN0QSNDLSCKHA?articleID=212701251 Analysis: Did Intel underestimate netbook success?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510095105/http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=YN1M2POYEMEN0QSNDLSCKHA?articleID=212701251 |date=2013-05-10 }}, Accessed at 10 January 2009</ref> The third quarter of 2008 was the first time when worldwide [[notebook PC]] shipments exceeded desktops, with 38.6 million units versus 38.5 million units.<ref name="Computer Economics, Inc"/><ref name="is2009-01-13">[http://www.isuppli.com/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=19823 Notebook PC Shipments Exceed Desktops for First Time in Q3], isuppli.com, accessed at 13 January 2009</ref><ref name="NYT09">{{cite news | title = The PC Doesn't Have to Be an Anchor | work = [[The New York Times]]| author = Randall Stross | date = 18 April 2008 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/business/19digi.html?_r=1&ref=technology| access-date = 20 April 2009}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/17/intel_laptop_desktop_crossover/ |title=Intel: laptop/desktop crossover coming sooner than expected |work=The Register, UK |access-date=10 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007091449/http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/17/intel_laptop_desktop_crossover/ |archive-date=7 October 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The sales breakdown of the [[Mac (computer)|Apple Macintosh]] has seen sales of desktop Macs staying mostly constant while being surpassed by that of Mac notebooks whose sales rate has grown considerably; seven out of ten Macs sold were laptops in 2009, a ratio projected to rise to three out of four by 2010. The change in sales of form factors is due to the desktop iMac moving from affordable [[iMac G3|G3]] to upscale [[iMac G4|G4]] model and subsequent releases are considered premium all-in-ones. By contrast, the MSRP of the MacBook laptop lines have dropped through successive generations such that the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro constitute the lowest price of entry to a Mac, with the exception of the even more inexpensive Mac Mini (albeit without a monitor and keyboard), and the MacBooks are the top-selling form factors of the Macintosh platform today.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gigaom.com/2010/01/25/decline-of-the-desktop-mac/|title=Decline of the Desktop Mac|author=Charles Jade|work=gigaom.com|date=2010-01-25}}</ref>

The decades of development mean that most people already own desktop computers that meet their needs and have no need of buying a new one merely to keep pace with advancing technology. Notably, the successive release of new versions of [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] (Windows 95, 98, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 and so on) had been drivers for the replacement of PCs in the 1990s, but this slowed in the 2000s due to the poor reception of Windows Vista over Windows XP. IDC analyst Jay Chou suggested that [[Windows 8]] actually hurt sales of PCs in 2012, as businesses decided to stick with [[Windows 7]] rather than upgrade.<ref name="online.wsj.com"/> Some suggested that Microsoft had acknowledged "implicitly ringing the desktop PC death knell" as Windows 8 offered little upgrade in desktop PC functionality over Windows 7; instead, Windows 8's innovations were mostly on the mobile side.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.extremetech.com/computing/115003-microsoft-quietly-kills-off-the-desktop-pc|title=Microsoft quietly kills off the desktop PC | work=ExtremeTech|date=January 23, 2012 |last1=Anthony |first1=Sebastian }}</ref>

The [[post-PC era|post-PC trend]] saw a decline in the sales of desktop and laptop PCs.<ref name="online.wsj.com">{{cite news| url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324695104578414973888155516 |title=Computer Sales in Free Fall|work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref>2013 PC Sales [https://web.archive.org/web/20131010005854/http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2604616 Decline]</ref> The decline was attributed to increased power and applications of alternative computing devices, namely smartphones and tablet computers.<ref>Why sales declined in [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/pc-shipments-shrank-11-percent-in-second-quarter-gartner-says.html 2013]</ref> Although most people exclusively use their smartphones and tablets for more basic tasks such as [[social media]] and [[casual gaming]], these devices have in many instances replaced a second or third PC in the household that would have performed these tasks, though most families still retain a powerful PC for serious work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/can-a-50-mini-pc-replace-your-desktop/|title=Can a $50 mini PC replace your desktop?|quote=Yes, the hardware is technically much slower than anything in a modern Windows desktop, but it didn’t feel that way. Instead, the interface was snappy, Web browsing was smooth, and load times were short.|date=2013-03-20}}</ref>

Among PC form factors, desktops remain a staple in the enterprise market but lost popularity among home buyers. PC makers and electronics retailers responded by investing their engineering and marketing resources towards laptops (initially [[netbook]]s in the late 2000s, and then the higher-performance [[Ultrabook]]s from 2011 onwards), which manufacturers believed had more potential to revive the PC market<ref name="extremetech.com" /> than desktops.

In April 2017, StatCounter declared a "Milestone in technology history and end of an era" with the mobile [[Android (operating system)|Android operating system]] becoming more popular than Windows (the operating system that made desktops dominant over [[mainframe computer]]s).<ref>{{cite press release | url=http://gs.statcounter.com/press/android-overtakes-windows-for-first-time |title=Android overtakes Windows for first time: "Milestone in technology history and end of an era" as Microsoft no longer owns dominant OS}}</ref> [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] is still most popular on desktops (and laptops), while smartphones (and tablets) use Android or [[iOS]].