OK, "comeback" may be the wrong word to use as the All-in-One PC never really made a big impact the first time around. But now the AIO sports an impressive 57% Y/Y growth in sales from 2008 to 2009.
HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer (Gateway and Packard Bell brands) contribute to this growth (as well as challenger brands such as MSI). But the iMAC leads the way, winning Apple converts because of iPod and iPhone fans.
What's fueling the resurgence? I am going to argue it's the shift in PC paradigm, that lurch in roadmap that's taking us to cloud-based computing. Both the home cloud and office cloud that makes thin computing look "phat" and attractive.
More power from more affordable processors from mobile PCs also brings the advantages of small form factors to the home or office–and that increases interest in AIOs.
DisplaySearch doesn't mention this, but I bet studies will show that AIO is also bought more often as a second or even third computing device.
DisplaySearch does mention the adoption of touch by AIO PCs increased in 2009, as many vendors added touch capabilities to their products in an effort to up-sell consumers.
The prominence of touch AIOs inspired major retail outlets such as Best Buy to make distinctions between PCs that have touch capabilities and those which do not. For companies such as HP, touch is a part of their long-term plan across product lines. While their expectations for AIO PCs with touch are currently low, HP expect it will become a more common interface for personal computing in years to come.
Among Windows-based PCs, the penetration of touch into AIOs in Q4'09 was 37.7%. (Apple does not offer touch-screen versions of the iMac.)
For non-Apple AIO PCs, EMEA leads the other regions in share with 27% (US is 25% of global).
Both touch-enabled and standard AIO PCs will show continued strength in the coming years, as brands are now able to reach a wide variety of price points and design aesthetics to attract consumer and commercial customers alike.
Only the fastest-growing mini-note/slate PC category will be ahead of AIOs, says DisplaySearch.
Source: DisplaySearch Q1'10Quarterly Desktop Monitor Shipment and Forecast Report
"DisplayLink's DL-165 USB virtual graphics chip has enabled us to offer our customers a means to connect multiple monitors to a single device, along with many other multimedia capabilities," says Louis Kokenis, the Product Engineering Manager for Diamond Multimedia. "The BVUMD3 also uses 80% less power than a discrete solution."
The iPad Supreme Edition is 64 GB model made of solid gold and encrusted with 25.5 karats of diamonds. A single piece of solid 22-karat gold makes the rear case and bezel.
