pc

Surface tablet less than 2 percent of market, says Dell

Michael Dell said today he expects sales of Microsoft's Surface to be "relatively small."

The Dell founder and chief executive commented on Microsoft's upcoming tablet during the PC maker's second-quarter earnings conference call this afternoon.

"I think there's an understanding of the number of units that they're likely to sell is a relatively small percentage. Maybe in the 1 [percent] to 2 percent range of total PC units during next year," Michael Dell said in response to analyst's question.

CFO Brian Gladden also had something to say. "[About] Microsoft … Read more

Microsoft opens registration for Windows 8 upgrade

Making good on its promise, Microsoft has officially opened registration for new Windows 7 users to upgrade to Windows 8.

In a tweet today, Windows wrote, "The @Windows upgrade offer is now available in 140 countries. Register now! http://windowsupgradeoffer.com."

The software giant pledged in May that anyone who bought a Windows 7 PC after June 2 would be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $14.99. The registration is to be open until January 31, 2013. If people miss the registration period, they'll have to pay full price for the software.

Windows 8 … Read more

Lenovo makes $141 million as its PCs close in on HP

Lenovo is on fire.

The PC maker today reported sales of $8 billion during its fiscal quarter that ended June 30, up 35 percent from the $5.9 billion it generated during the same period last year. Lenovo's profit hit $141 million, up from the $108 million it posted in the fiscal first quarter of 2011.

Lenovo's strong performance comes on the back of its soaring PC shipments. The company's notebook shipments rose 27 percent in the fiscal first quarter, helping it to hit a record 15.4 percent market share in that market. On the desktop … Read more

Wake up, gamers, Darksiders II has saved your summer

I know I've used this tired cliche a few too many times, but the summer really does suck if you're a gamer. It used to be that the summer was reserved for indie titles on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network to rise to the top in, but in 2012 it's seemed that's not necessarily the case.

With just about a month to go before the industry begins to pick up again, Vigil Games' Darksiders II may just be the piece of software that saves your gaming summer. The follow-up to 2010's sleeper hit, Darksiders II delivers a lot of what I'd expect to see in a proper sequel.… Read more

HP loses ground in Europe -- Acer, Asus, Apple gain

Hewlett-Packard lost ground to Acer, Asus, Apple, and others in key markets in Europe, according to market researcher Gartner.

The Western Europe PC market recorded weak overall PC shipments across all countries, according to Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner.

But some are doing better than others. Acer is gaining on HP in Europe and increased its market share by 2.7 percentage points. Asus was the top performer among the top five vendors and moved up to the No. 3 slot, according to Gartner.

In the U.K., which is one of the worst markets, "the real worry...… Read more

Lack of focus hurting HP against Apple, Samsung, says analyst

Hewlett-Packard is losing its battle with Apple and Samsung because of a lack of focus and strong products in key segments, an analyst said in a research note today.

After Meg Whitman took over the CEO spot, HP's pitch to financial analysts has been that it can succeed as both a corporate and consumer computing company, UBS analyst Steven Milunovich wrote in research note cited by MarketWatch.

But it's not turning out that way, with the stock now hovering below $20. "HP is...being attacked in enterprise computing by focused goliaths like IBM and EMC and in … Read more

PC makers falling further behind Apple, says Canalys

Things are not looking good for PC makers in the age of the iPad.

Market researcher Canalys makes this point with PC shipment stats, which are a function of the way it sees the PC market. In short, tablets are PCs too. (And note Canalys defines "PC" generically, not the traditional definition of a Windows PC.)

That gives Apple an overwhelming lead over No.2 Hewlett-Packard. In the second quarter, Apple shipped about 21 million PCs versus about 13.5 million for HP, according to a Canalys report released today. Lenovo was a close third with 13.1 … Read more

Star Wars: The Old Republic adds free-to-play

Well, that didn't take long. EA announced today that gamers can play the beleaguered Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG this fall for free, avoiding the usual $14.99 monthly fee. The company also announced a $14.99 price cut for the game coming in August; the cut comes packaged with a one-month subscription. … Read more

AMD has scary things to say about the PC market

Advanced Micro Devices, the world's second largest PC processor supplier, had some sobering things to say about the PC market when the company reported earnings Thursday.

"For the first time since 2001, client PC shipments have declined sequentially for three consecutive quarters-and have been below historical averages for the last seven quarters," AMD CEO Rory Read said during the chip supplier's second quarter earnings conference call.

"We also believe the PC industry may be resetting to a new [lower] baseline," he said.

Revenue declined 10 percent to $1.41 billion for the the Sunnyvale, … Read more