Tag Archives: personal computer

In Q4 2010, smartphones outsold PCs for the very first time

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Now isn’t this curious news? According to the IDC, a market research and analysis firm, smartphone manufacturers pushed out 100.9 million units during the final quarter of 2010. Compare to this number of PCs sold during that same quarter: 92.1 million. For the first time ever, smartphones outsold traditional computers. Think about that for a second. Pretty crazy, huh? Alarming, no. With innovators like Apple, RIM, and HTC churning out mobile devices left and right, we all knew this day (erm, quarter) would come when the inevitable would strike. And don’t forget–phones are steadily evolving into pocketable computers now aren’t they?

The IDC provides us with more fun facts, if you’re interested. Smartphones shipped during Q4 2010 were up 87.2 percent from the 53.9 million smartphones shipped during the Q4 2009. They say Google’s mobile OS Android “continues to gain by leaps and bounds” and they call Nokia’s Symbian the market leader, interestingly enough. They calculate the top 5 (Q4 2010) smartphone vendors to be Nokia, Apple, RIM, Samsung, and HTC. On the PC front, they name HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, and Apple to be the top 5 (Q4 2010) PC vendors. Computer shipments rose by a meager 2.7 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. They say Apple’s iPad managed to stifle demand and competition and thusly constrain PC shipments.

[Via IDC, here & here; Engadget]

Apple-1 computer about to be auctioned away

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Calling this particular auction item a rarity is a bit of an understatement.  This here Apple-1 computer is 1 of 200 made by original Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.  You’ve heard the tales of Jobs and Woz tinkering inside the walls of Jobs’ garage; this fascinating piece of machinery imagined, designed, and eventually sold in 1976 during those primitive days of early personal computing.  The sale will include all the original contents of the Apple-1: an Apple-1 motherboard (number 82), printed circuit board, three capacitors, a heatsink, cassette board connector, 8kb of RAM, and a keyboard interface.  In addition to the bits and pieces, the item will ship in its original packaging, along with printed manuals and a letter from Jobs himself!  Said letter was a typed response to the original owner of the computer answering some questions.  The item goes on the auction block at Christie’s in London on November 23, with a starting bid set at £100,000 – £150,000 (or $160,300 – $240,450).  Curious to see where it ends up; dontcha think an item as exceptional and rare as this should find a home at a museum?

[Via Christie’s; Engadget]