New Report on Digital Dependence Finds Performance, Price Still Drive PC Refresh
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS:
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 13, 2013 – According to an IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Intel, titled, “Exploring Our Digital Dependence” released this month, 97 percent of U.S. households say the personal computer (PC) is still their primary computing device and nearly half (41 percent) intend to upgrade their PC within the next year. Among parents and millennials, 54 percent intend to purchase a new PC in the next year.
Americans spend more than 43 hours per week on a variety of compute devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, 2 in 1 devices), but time spent on PCs dominates more than half of their digital device time (over 21 hours per week). Dubbed “the 5 Cs” in IDC’s report, Americans would choose to give up crunches/exercise (73 percent), chocolate/sweets (71 percent), caffeine (65 percent), cable television (58 percent), and their car (33 percent) before giving up their PCs for one week.
Despite consumers’ love affair with technology, the report shows Americans are making compromises. The average PC owner using a machine that is 4 or more years old spends nearly 13 minutes a day waiting for their device to perform basic functions such as loading a Web page, booting up, or powering down – this equates to three days a year spent waiting.
PC purchase intent, according to the IDC InfoBrief, is driven by the following: a desire for the latest and greatest technology, seeing a good price or deal, wanting a speedier device, and/or having an old PC that malfunctions and does not perform well enough to get the job done. The recent report states: “performance and price are still the major drivers for PC refresh, but IDC believes consumers with older systems don’t realize how much better the experience can be with a new PC.”
“Intel Core-powered PCs offer significant advantages over other devices on the market and, on average, cost less than what people paid for their PCs four years ago,” said Jeff McCrea, vice president, sales and marketing group and director, consumer channels group with Intel. “With our new 4th gen Intel Core processors, systems reach a whole new level of experience and performance with amazing battery life, stunning graphics, touch screens and a choice of beautiful, sleek and light designs. The new processors are enabling innovative new 2 in 1 devices, giving people a high performance laptop with the mobility of a tablet in one remarkable design.”
“The IDC InfoBrief reaffirms our dependence on mobile technology and shines a light on the pivotal role PCs still play in our lives,” said IDC Analyst Bob O’Donnell. “Thirty million consumer PCs are forecasted to ship in the U.S. this year. I believe PC owners will be ‘wowed’ when they learn the benefits offered by new systems on the market today and realize how much more of a rewarding experience will be delivered when they choose to upgrade their PC.”
4th generation Intel Core Ushers in Wave of Innovative 2 in 1, Touch-enabled DevicesIntel recently announced its 4th generation Intel Core processor family enabling cool, sleek designs, including Ultrabook devices and other 2 in 1 systems that deliver a PC and tablet experience in one device. The new processors deliver a 50 percent improvement in battery life1, which translates to over 9 hours in some systems. IntelÆ Iris graphics deliver up to double the graphics performance over the previous generation2, delivering incredible visual experiences in even the thinnest of devices. Systems powered by the new Intel Core processors can wake up approximately eight times faster 3,4,5, handle every day computing tasks roughly four times faster3,4,6, and make video editing and sharing about 16 times faster than a similar 4-year-old PC3,4,7.
New Intel-powered 2 in 1 devices are coming to market in time for the current back-to-school season and upcoming holiday gift buying season. People no longer have to choose between laptops and tablets – they can now have everything they love about a tablet and everything they need in a laptop, in one device.
For more information on the IDC study, download the InfoBrief PDF. For more information on Intel’s 4th generation Intel Core processor family, visit the Intel Newsroom.
Survey MethodologyIDC conducted an online survey of 3,977 adults (18+ years old) across several major cities and in suburban and rural areas across the U.S. in June 2013. All respondents had at least one PC (Windows or Mac). The sample was structured to have quotas to capture roughly half the respondents who purchased a PC in the past 12 months and half who last bought a PC four or more years ago. The sample was also targeted to be split among age groups and gender. The data reported is not weighted. The study was designed to examine how consumers use and feel about their computing devices and to seek out differences by region, demographics, age of PC, etc. Forty-five percent of respondents had at least one
About IntelIntel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com.
Intel, Intel Core, Centrino, Ultrabook and the Intel logo are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.
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1 Measured on OEM system using battery life during local offline video playback of a 1080p MP4 in landscape mode. Measured on OEM system using MobileMark* 2012. For more information, see www.bapco.com.
2 As measured by 3Dmark11*, an industry standard benchmark from Futuremark*.
3 Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark and MobileMark, are measured using specific computer systems, components, software, operations and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products.
4 Configurations:4th generation Intel Core-based PC: IntelÆ Core i5-4200U Processor (up to 2.60GHz, 4T/2C, 3M Cache) for battery life measurements: On OEM Platform BIOS: OEM Graphics: IntelÆ HD Graphics (driver v. 9.18.10.3186) Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) Dual Channel LPDDR3 1600 Samsung SSD MZNTD128HAGM 128GB OS: Windows 8* Pro Build 9200 System Power Management Policy: Balance Wireless: On and connected4 year old PC: IntelÆ Core 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz, 2T/2C, 3M Cache, 1066 MHz FSB) On OEM Platform BIOS: OEM Graphics: IntelÆ GMA X4500HD (driver v. 8.15.10.2555) Resolution 1366×768† Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) Micron* DDR3 1066 7-7-7-20 HDD: IntelÆ Hitachi* HTS543232L9A300 320GB 5400 rpm 16MB cache OS: Windows* 7 Ultimate 6.1 Build 7601 System Power Management Policy: Windows Default LCD Size: 15.5″ Tests:
5 Wake up = resume from system hibernate (S4)
6 Everyday computing = PCMark 7 Score
7 Video editing: Cyberlink Mediaespresso 6.7.3405
