Google predicts the death of the desktop

Google has been shooting its mouth off again about the growing importance of mobile platforms, at the expense of the humble desktop PC.

According to a report on Silicon Republic, Google's head of Europe, John Herlihy, argued that this shift in the way users interact with the internet and applications will help the web giant in its mission to make information universally accessible.

"In three years time, desktops will be irrelevant," he is quoted as saying. "In Japan, most research is done today on smart phones, not PCs."

The comments echo those of Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, who told delegates at the recent Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona that there would be a major shift of advertising revenues from the fixed web to mobile platforms.

To be fair to Google, Gartner seems to be saying similar things about the long term marginalisation of the desktop. In a new report out yesterday the analyst firm predicted that the launch of the Apple iPad could herald an industry shift in sales from desktop PCs to handheld devices.

Principal Gartner analyst Ranjit Atwal warned vendors not to limit development to traditional PC form factors, as the rise of web-delivered applications means that many users no longer need a traditional PC.

However, when it comes to the desktop PC, any rumours of its imminent death have been greatly exaggerated, with Garner predicting shipments will jump a huge 19.7 per cent in the coming year.

05 Mar 2010