Watch CBS News

Tech Report: Are PCs A Thing Of The Past?

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said that he thinks that personal computers will soon be obsolete, adding that we're living in a post-PC era. Figures released on Wednesday seem to support this assertion, showing that sales are down.

"It's far too early to write an obituary for the PC but sales are down and there could be a number of factors for that, including the economy, what happened in Japan, but the bottom line is that it's happening just as tablet sales of iPads are going through the roof," said KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid.

KCBS' Larry Magid:

Magid said that not all companies are being affected similarly however.

"Toshiba and other companies have seen rises in sales of PC, and ironically, Apple, the very company whose CEO was talking about the end of the PC era was up by nearly 10 percent. Their MacBooks are doing very well. It goes to show that if you have a good quality product...there still is a market for PCs."

Magid said that he thinks PCs will be around for a very long time.

"A lot of people are going to continue to need the power of a PC, the versatility that they give you, the keyboard, and the software that you can only run on PCs," said Magid.

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.