They are always connected. They have better UI. They have more sensors like GPS and camera. It's way easier and cheaper to buy software. They are the personal computers for the majority who never have owned a PC. For us that have used PCs for a long time, they tend to be our favorite personal computers.
Yesterday Horace Dediu in Asymco.com had a post dealing with just that assumption; that the PC statistic should include iOS and Android. What a nice view resulted from that!
The third view is with the addition of iPhone and Android.
This last view corresponds to the data in the first graph (line chart). If iOS and Android are added as potential substitutions for personal computing, the share of PCs suddenly collapses to less than 50%. It also suggests much more collapse to come.
The graph in question — extreme though Dediu admits it is — should be terrifying to Microsoft and its shareholders. Maybe Intel too.
