PC era 'coming to a close'

PCs are going the way of typewriters, vinyl records and vacuum tubes, one of the engineers who worked on the original machine has said, according to the BBC.

The claim was made in a blog post commemorating 30 years since the unveiling of the first IBM personal computer. No longer, said Dr Mark Dean, are PCs the leading-edge of computing.

No single device has taken the PC's place, he said, instead it has been replaced by the socially-mediated innovation it has fostered. He revealed that he had already moved into the post-PC era as his primary computer was now a tablet.

Research In Motion's (RIM's) woes continued yesterday after new figures from Gartner showed the company was overtaken by Chinese manufacturer ZTE in terms of global mobile phone sales during the second quarter, and has dropped to sixth place, reports V3.co.uk.

ZTE's share rose from 1.8% to 3% between the second quarter of 2010 and the same period in 2011, while RIM's share dropped from 3.2% to 3%. ZTE shipped 13 million units, outselling RIM by around 500 000 units.

Gartner principal analyst Roberta Cozza says ZTE's growth is built on serving low-end markets with budget smartphones, and that RIM's problems are down to a number of failings that point to a tough future for the company.

According to a recent report from DigiTimes, Nokia is facing increasing competition from Apple and Google Android in the Chinese smartphone market, reveals Forbes.

Although Nokia is currently the leader in the Chinese market with market share of around 20% to 30%, this could evaporate quickly if Apple extends carrier partnerships in China, and Android increases its presence through Samsung, HTC and Motorola Mobility phones.

Forbes currently maintains a $6.65 price estimate for Nokia stock, which is about 25% above market price, based on the premise that Nokia will turn its smartphones business around in 2012 with the new Windows phones.

Sales of mobile technology continue to soar as the worldwide mobile handset market grew another 16.5% year-on-year this quarter, writes Computing.co.uk.

The number of units sold totalled 428.7 million in the second quarter of 2011, a 16.5% increase on the same period last year, when it stood at 367.9 units, according to research firm Gartner.

Sales of smartphones were up 74% year-on-year, accounting for 25% of worldwide mobile phone sales in second-quarter 2011. They accounted for 17% of overall sales in the same period last year.