PCs Are Cool Again

It's been a long time since a lot of our most interesting stories were coming from the PC space. For a time, PCs were so uncool that a certain magazine changed its name from Computer Reseller News to CRN. But hold on a minute. Several recent developments within the PC space—both on the technology front and from a business standpoint—are making it the space to watch. And that's not going to change for quite some time.

In technology, notebooks have overtaken desktops as the leading system form factor, and new, faster chips have given them enormous computing power. Apple's Mac platform has moved from a dying concept to a hot growth market. And major OEMs are shipping desktops and notebooks with—gasp!—Linux operating systems.

LARRY HOOPER Can be reached via e-mail at lrhooper@cmp.com.

But technologywise, the big elephant in the room is, of course, Microsoft's Vista. With most companies not yet ready to switch out all of their systems, VARs are seeing good service revenues from replacing Vista on business machines with Windows XP. But as XP is phased out, Vista will no doubt lead to a rash of system upgrades.

So what will take XP's place? Will Apple take even more share? Will more companies move to Linux desktops?

Even more interesting is where the hardware will come from. When IBM sold its PC business off to Lenovo, many suggested the move was the last nail in the coffin of the PC business. But in the past year, as the not-so-sexy-anymore Dell faltered and Hewlett-Packard stepped into the lead in the PC space, other PC makers were gathering the troops. Lenovo, which almost fell off the map of U.S. market share, is gearing up for a major push in the market, according to CEO William Amelio. That push will include a reinvigorated product line and an expanded channel.

Then there's Acer. The PC maker's recent bid for Gateway could create another contender, albeit one with serious work to do in the U.S. channel space.

And we all know that Dell isn't sitting around waiting for HP to slip up. The company is working behind the scenes to build a full-scale channel program. Sure, it's been a long time coming. And Dell is the company the channel loves to hate. But no one can argue that Dell will be a powerful force in the channel if it does it right.

It all adds up to a fiercely competitive PC space. And we all know that is good for the channel.

Who are you betting on in the PC space?
Let me know at lrhooper@cmp.com.