Windows operating system monopoly collapse, the future of the PC industry worrying!!

15 years ago, the PC industry was booming, its core technology, Windows operating system Thunder is also a moment, 15 years later, the PC in front of smartphones and tablets have no advantage, and the Windows operating system a single big situation also no longer exist ...

In the late 90, there was an American technology company that was absolutely wealthy in the world, and the company was almost as strong as its technology prowess, not only on desktop operating systems, but also in other software sectors. But the wood show in the forest, the wind will be destroyed, the U.S. government through the monopoly law to drag the company into a protracted lawsuit. Yes, this is the Microsoft of the year.

In the end, Microsoft was defeated in the lawsuit and had to accept strict legal restrictions. Many people are worried that the case will have a significant negative impact on Microsoft, fearing that the idol-level technology companies will be deterred by this case. But it turns out that in the past 15 years, it was not the antitrust lawsuit that ultimately left Microsoft the world's dominant PC market, but the changes in the market itself.

From the current situation, Microsoft has become the focus of the global scientific and technological sector, almost to break the history, the world's first market capitalisation of trillions of companies. Microsoft's market value reached its all-time high in 1999, according to Standard and Poor's data, when Microsoft's record was 620.58 billion dollars. If the inflation factor was taken into account then, Microsoft's total market capitalisation on December 30, 1999 amounted to about $850 billion trillion today. But the changes that the Internet has brought about are not something Microsoft can grasp. Microsoft is just a raging and beautiful spray in the global Internet tide.

The antitrust case did give Microsoft a lot of damage, but it wasn't fatal. Because of cloud computing, smartphones, tablet computers and other emerging electronic products and a wide range of popular, once all-powerful desktop operating system also did not have the scenery. As long as the electronic products can access the Internet, can run related programs, the basic can meet the needs of users, as to what the operating system is not important.

With the following three tables, we can have a very objective understanding of the challenges faced by technology giants such as Microsoft, HP, Dell and Intel before the new wave of the Internet. Global Internet Equipment Shipments Statistics (2000 to 2012)

First, look at the global Internet Equipment shipments statistics: From 2000 to 2012, although the PC shipments per year remained around 200 million, but after the advent of smartphones and tablets, the market pattern changed radically. PC shipments are now dwarfed by smartphones and tablets. Market share of major global platforms (first quarter of 2009 to first quarter of 2013)

As can be seen from the table, the diversity of personal Internet devices has greatly weakened the dominance of the Windows operating system. In fact, this change is also in recent years, three years ago, 70% of the world's PCs are equipped with Windows operating system. Now, due to the widespread popularity of Google's Android and Apple's IOS platform, the share of Windows operating systems in global markets has shrunk by almost 30% to 50%. The most notable change is that Android has surpassed Windows in global markets.

Finally, look at the statistics of Horace Dediu, the Asymco analyst at the US Market Research Institute. The PC business is not only "short" in the face of the blowout sales figures for smartphones and tablets, but the PC business itself has seen a noticeable downward trend. Now the Internet equipment has become diversified, although the PC technology has been quite mature, but the PC is not the most cost-effective, the most convenient access to the equipment. The PC's status has been subverted by smartphones and tablets, and PCs have become specialized office equipment. PC shipped annual growth rate with Windows operating system

As we can see from the above figure, the PC with the Windows operating system has a fairly decent shipping growth before the IPad is released. But from the end of 2010, the growth rate of PC shipments has been depressed, and recently there has been a significant negative growth.

In fact, it's not all bad news for Microsoft. Microsoft's performance in terms of transition is certainly commendable. Microsoft's Office software is also an important source of revenue for Microsoft. While Google and Apple have launched their own office software, they have not yet posed a fatal threat to office.

Time flies, Microsoft's antitrust case has been 15 years. Once monopolistic products Windows operating systems will no longer be prosecuted, and the PC industry, which is closely linked to the Windows operating system, is a grim prospect.