Touchscreen PCs expected to take 11 percent of 2013 notebook shipments
Apple has famously compared convertible Windows tablets to combining a toaster and a refrigerator, but competitors are still increasing their output of touchscreen notebooks in hopes of turning around slumping PC sales.
The latest data released Tuesday by NPD DisplaySearch forecasts that 19.8 million touch-enabled notebook PCs will ship this year. That would account for about 11 percent of all notebooks shipped in 2013.
Touchscreen notebook shipments have also grown throughout the year, from just 7 percent in the first half of 2013. Manufacturers have been most likely to put touchscreens on their "ultra-slim" PC models, giving users the option of tablet-style utilization.
Asus has been the most enthusiastic in embracing touchscreens on notebooks, with 20 percent of its laptops now sporting touch-capable displays. That's also helped Asus to carve out a 26.3 percent share of the touch notebook PC market, according to NPD.
For Sony, 17.6 percent of its notebooks shipped worldwide are touch-capable, but the Japanese electronics maker has managed to take just an 8 percent share of global notebook PCs with touch. In contrast, just 7.4 percent of Lenovo's total notebook shipments sport touchscreens, yet it has a 14.7 percent market share.
One company that has signaled it has no plans to add touchscreens to its existing notebook lineup is Apple, as its executives have panned Windows 8 "convergence" PCs that aim to offer the benefits of both a laptop and a tablet. Apple has instead kept its iPad and MacBook lineups separate, with different operating systems and interfaces suited to each device.
In one of his company's quarterly earnings conference calls in 2012, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook compared hybrid tablet-notebook devices to that of selling a refrigerator with toaster functions tacked on the side. Such combinations are not "pleasing to the user," he said.
"Anything can be forced to converge," Cook said. "But the problem is that the products are about tradeoffs. You begin to make tradeoffs to the point where what you have left at the end of the day doesn't please anyone."
Though Apple doesn't see much of a market for notebook PCs with touchscreens, NPD still projects that their share of shipments will grow in the coming years. The company's forecast sees notebook PCs with touch reaching a penetration rate north of 40 percent by the year 2017.
The latest data released Tuesday by NPD DisplaySearch forecasts that 19.8 million touch-enabled notebook PCs will ship this year. That would account for about 11 percent of all notebooks shipped in 2013.
Touchscreen notebook shipments have also grown throughout the year, from just 7 percent in the first half of 2013. Manufacturers have been most likely to put touchscreens on their "ultra-slim" PC models, giving users the option of tablet-style utilization.
Asus has been the most enthusiastic in embracing touchscreens on notebooks, with 20 percent of its laptops now sporting touch-capable displays. That's also helped Asus to carve out a 26.3 percent share of the touch notebook PC market, according to NPD.
For Sony, 17.6 percent of its notebooks shipped worldwide are touch-capable, but the Japanese electronics maker has managed to take just an 8 percent share of global notebook PCs with touch. In contrast, just 7.4 percent of Lenovo's total notebook shipments sport touchscreens, yet it has a 14.7 percent market share.
One company that has signaled it has no plans to add touchscreens to its existing notebook lineup is Apple, as its executives have panned Windows 8 "convergence" PCs that aim to offer the benefits of both a laptop and a tablet. Apple has instead kept its iPad and MacBook lineups separate, with different operating systems and interfaces suited to each device.
In one of his company's quarterly earnings conference calls in 2012, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook compared hybrid tablet-notebook devices to that of selling a refrigerator with toaster functions tacked on the side. Such combinations are not "pleasing to the user," he said.
"Anything can be forced to converge," Cook said. "But the problem is that the products are about tradeoffs. You begin to make tradeoffs to the point where what you have left at the end of the day doesn't please anyone."
Though Apple doesn't see much of a market for notebook PCs with touchscreens, NPD still projects that their share of shipments will grow in the coming years. The company's forecast sees notebook PCs with touch reaching a penetration rate north of 40 percent by the year 2017.
Comments
The funny part about all those convertible ads is the first thing they do it snap on a keyboard (how long will the snap work?). I see devices like this as requiring the keyboard, using it without being secondary. These PC companies can continue to try and sell products but I wonder how long they can stay in business selling and giving away products that are out with the next week's garbage.
My convertible notebook of choice is an iPad with (less than 1/4 of the time) a keyboard cover attached.
"Gestures" have a better chance of being incorporated into Laptops and Desktop computers than "Touch".
"Gestures" could make use of their already built in iSight camera. There's no need to smudge your screen.
Actually "Gestures" could be integrated into the iPad as well. Some cooking apps are already taking advantage of this: One has to wave at the screen in order to progress to the next step.
Agreed, I want a 60", 4K, gesture controlled ACD attached to a Mac Pro running OS X (version TBA) . Just call me Tom Cruise ... :smokey:
Having had a Surface Pro 2 for a few weeks now and developing on in fairly regularly in it's laptop mode, I'd argue touch on laptops is essential. It in no way replaces the mouse, but certain things like scrolling, gestures to switch apps, dragging stuff are far better as a quick tap or flick on the screen rather than moving a mouse and clicking. It basically comes down to what is quickest and certain things are quicker with touch than a mouse.
As a tablet I've been using it more than my iPad. I didn't think I would as the thing is obviously heavier. But the main reason is the browser is just sooooooo much faster. The other stuff like having 2 windows next to each other and links from emails automatically opening the browser on the second half of the screen are nice. But the real thing is the speed, nothing can really describe how much of a difference it really makes.
You hands moving from the keyboard to the screen is probably farther than your hands moving from a keyboard to a mouse/touchpad. Apparently you don't know keyboard shortcuts.
Touchscreen ultra books=net books=fad
Getting off track but same principles - the new xbox one weighs a ton with an external power brick....compared to a lighter ps4 including internal power. Microsofts approach is more off the shelf in build?
Having had a Surface Pro 2 for a few weeks now and developing on in fairly regularly in it's laptop mode, I'd argue touch on laptops is essential. It in no way replaces the mouse, but certain things like scrolling, gestures to switch apps, dragging stuff are far better as a quick tap or flick on the screen rather than moving a mouse and clicking. It basically comes down to what is quickest and certain things are quicker with touch than a mouse.
As a tablet I've been using it more than my iPad. I didn't think I would as the thing is obviously heavier. But the main reason is the browser is just sooooooo much faster. The other stuff like having 2 windows next to each other and links from emails automatically opening the browser on the second half of the screen are nice. But the real thing is the speed, nothing can really describe how much of a difference it really makes.
Since owning a newer MacBook Air, running Mavericks, I would agree with you completely. "Touch" does indeed become an essential and obvious part of the laptop computing experience. I tap, flick, switch apps, scroll, etc. all with a quick swipe of my fingers.I prefer it by large degrees over using a mouse.
Since the experience seems similar, I guess it can also be argued that the MacBook lineup already has that "essential touch" functionality built in? Except in this case, it's via the large glass trackpad that comes with every MacBook (which is unlike the "trackpad" experience of any of my friend's cheaper PC laptops).
Touch/Gestures, yes. Click and/or Tap, yes. None of it requiring that I switch from a natural, comfortable hand/arm position, or leave fingerprints on my laptop screen. I prefer it that way, thanks.
From recent patents and acquisitions, I'm also guessing Apple will eventually incorporate both "air gestures" and "Touch ID" functions into their laptops and trackpads, doing away with any potential necessity of touching the display at all. They, like me, clearly dislike having to deal with fingerprints on their larger, primary displays.
Having had a Surface Pro 2 for a few weeks now and developing on in fairly regularly in it's laptop mode, I'd argue touch on laptops is essential. It in no way replaces the mouse, but certain things like scrolling, gestures to switch apps, dragging stuff are far better as a quick tap or flick on the screen rather than moving a mouse and clicking. It basically comes down to what is quickest and certain things are quicker with touch than a mouse.
As a tablet I've been using it more than my iPad. I didn't think I would as the thing is obviously heavier. But the main reason is the browser is just sooooooo much faster. The other stuff like having 2 windows next to each other and links from emails automatically opening the browser on the second half of the screen are nice. But the real thing is the speed, nothing can really describe how much of a difference it really makes.
I have never experienced a fast browser on a windows machine more that 2 months old. As for touch on a laptop. i have a keyboard with my iPad and things I have to touch the screen for becomes annoying. It got old really fast. On my MacBooks and even my mini I use the track pad for scrolling gestures and etc... I just don't see the touch screen been useful in the real world for a laptop. At the same time a keyboard on a tablet has very limited value. My intent was to take notes but I ended up using my macbook air because it made more sense and I didn't have go back and forth between touch and keyboard.
Apple will have a touch screen notebook in 2 years just like they're going to have a large screen iphone next year.
Now THAT'S the crux of all the sales at the moment. People are thinking that touching the screen is a neat idea that will be more convenient. Some actual use shows the idea to be far less then desired.
My bro-in-law got an HP with a touch screen. He went to open an application at the bottom of his screen where his hand blocked his view of the place wanted to touch, then his touch failed because his fingernail made contact rather then his flesh... all the while he was trying to make proper contact with the icon through the bottom of his lenses with his head tipped back and his mouth open.
Because his screen was fixed in place he had to modify his body to see and touch, rather then being able to move the device to use it. So, there it sits with a multitude of wires keeping him from bringing it to where he needs it. It's as immobile as if he'd just bought a desktop computer. My MBP that I bought in 2005 moves with me around the house or to where ever I need it. Wonderful trackpad built in, even though it's too old to take advantage of all the gestures of the current OSX.
Recently, he did unhook it from all the cables and take it with him... to the repair shop.
Thanksgiving is coming in a few days, I'll have my iPad for music, photos, games, reading, whatever I want as I travel, and visit family, I don't even have to take my charger.
iPad + [ logitec ] = touchscreen laptop. Nice but niche.
Agreed. I get around a lot and hang out in a large number of public settings where laptops and tablets are at almost every table. The number of people that I currently see using a keyboard with their iPad is very small. When I ask them they usually admit to being able to either afford or carry only one device...hence their mating of a keyboard to their pad.
So far, at least, it does seem to be a niche.
Personally, I can't share the opinion of touch being essential, let alone useful on a notebook for any reason. In my opinion this becomes even more so true, the heavier work you're doing on your machine, especially type heavy tasks such as developing, which was mentioned above.
Essentially, when doing keyboard heavy tasks I feel annoyed every time I actually have to move my hand over to the mouse in order to do something, just to move it back to the keyboard again a second later. The more I gotta move my hand the more annoyed I get. Having to lift a hand from the keyboard and mouse/trackpad area in order to touch the screen is even more annoying because it takes longer and "distracts" more, even for moving back to your keyboard position.
It is also worth to consider that in a working environment, which most likely consists of a classic desktop, touch input is extremely inaccurate, compared to a mouse. And this leads to my second point, which is the environment used. Obviously it might be more pleasing to use touch in a touch optimised environment such as Metro but then again, chances that people actually work in this environment and have all their apps touch optimised are extremely low. And let's face it, if your toolset consists of such specialist apps, all made for touch, one might as well use an iPad and not bother with the whole notebook paradigm.
So what it essentially comes down to is that touch is nice for scrolling and a few gestures, because there is not much use for it in a classic notebook use case and I don't know about your opinions, but I still prefer to scroll or access Mission Control through a quick touchpad gesture, rather than having to lift my hand completely to touch the screen. I just don't see the benefit in that.
Now if Apple could finally develop some kind of keyboard, which is a classic, flat keyboard with mechanic keys, somehow allowing gesture input (even for scrolling) directly above the keys, I'd be totally sold (I'm basically talking a leap motion built directly into the keyboard here). That'd be my personal revolution.
I have no idea how this could be done and how to recognise gestures in between typing movements, but that would definitely be something that would increase my productivity a lot.
This is probably because Metro only really works with a touchscreen.