The PC market is continuing to slump, as evidenced by the latest financial results posted by HP, with the computing giant seeing sales decline once again.
It seems apparent that the launch of Windows 10 has done little to solve a problem in the PC market, where sales have been dwindling for a decade.
Indeed, Microsoft’s latest software build is unlikely to ever reverse a trend that has seen consumers turn to mobile devices and other computing methods.
Redmond known this, of course, which is why Microsoft is increasingly pushing itself as a services company beyond the core Windows OS, a company providing a wider ecosystem for differing hardware form factors.
HP is also branching out to tablets and smartphones, but the company remains a PC brand at heart and it is stuck with attempting to find a way of making consumers buy PCs again. Like other PC manufacturers, HP must somehow make the home computer cool again, and find a way to reinvigorate the market.
Once the biggest PC manufacturer in the world, HP has been hit more than most by the fall in hardware sales across the market. The company’s fiscal first quarter of 2016 showed the downward trend is continuing, with HP bringing in $12.25 billion in revenue, a drop from $13.86 billion through the same period in 2015.
Some argue that Microsoft’s approach of giving away Windows 10 free to many consumers has hit the PC market further. Consumers simply do not see the need to update hardware along with software, as they might have done in the past.
HP is remaining bullish in the face of continued problems in the PC market, with Dion Weisler, President and CEO of HP, adding:
We have a clear strategy that leverages our strengths, and we are focused on execution, taking cost out of the business and delivering innovations that will amaze our customers and partners. Although we have some tough quarters ahead, I am confident in the future.
Part of HP’s future is restructuring into two different companies, one a consumer oriented hardware brand, and the other an enterprise focused entity that is oriented to business.
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