Sales of Media Center PCs have skyrocketed since July 2005 according to a recent study by Current Analysis. For the week ending August 20, 2005, Media Center PCs accounted for 42.60% of all desktop personal computers sold in the US retail market, up from 16.28% for the week ending July 2, 2005.
Accounting for this phenomenon was a decline in pricing for Media Center systems, with the average price dropping below US$900 (£490) for the first time ever. In addition to the more affordable price points, Microsoft has led the charge to promote Media Center PCs at select retailers in an attempt to generate a higher level of interest in the platform.
Matt Sargent, senior director of Current Analysis, stated that the desktop market is in dire need of anything that will differentiate it from laptops, which have been stealing sales over the last year. Media Center, with its focus on performance-centric tasks, such as manipulating pictures, video and audio content, is one key differentiator.
The continued success of the desktop form factor is reliant upon the success of Media Center and is the reason we are seeing leading manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard (HP) rapidly shift their desktop offerings to Media Center, Sargent explained.
Story source:
digitimes.com.
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