According to Gartner, the worldwide PC shipments are expected to drop from 341 million units in 2012 to 305 million this year (-10.6 percent), and reduce to 289 million in 2014. Sales are on a downslide partly because of the competition from tablets, and even smartphones to some extent. At a first glance, this decrease may seem worthy of one of those frequently used online headlines like “The end of the PC era.” Up close, it appears like PCs have arrived at an equilibrium. Those currently in use have enough power to satisfy the needs of most users, while the incremental improvements in the newer models are not enough to warrant investment in another PC. For the business environment, the stable, reliable, unexciting PC remains an important device. The Gartner report divides the devices and provides shipment numbers for other ones, also, such as “ultramobiles,” tablets and mobile phones. Each research firm has developed its own measurement system, and the categories are not always cohesive. For Gartner, ultramobiles include “Chromebooks, thin and light clamshell designs, and slate and hybrid devices running Windows 8.” All these sectors are thriving, the report shows that the overall shipments are up 5.9 percent this year, and predicts further growth for next year. An increase of over 60 percent year over year is forecasted for tablets as consumers and professionals have discovered that portable devices can meet many of their needs, freeing them from their desktops and allowing them to move freely. The lower priced basic tablets seem to be taking up a higher share and at a faster pace than previously anticipated. Case in point: sales of the iPad Mini represented already 60 percent of overall iOS tablet sales for the first quarter of 2013. “The increased availability...