Smartphone may replace Wintel PC in the coming years

In the recent times, there are various speculations about the future of personal computers and evolution of smartphones to replace PCs in the long run. Smartphones are on the rise due to portability, easy access and affordability but on the enterprise front, it is still used as a supporting device for performing simple tasks such drafting e-mails, connecting to peers or surfing the web. Over time, experts believe that smartphones may take over Wintel PC in the work place due to their dynamic tech facilities.

Wintel PCs – Technology That Changed The Enterprise Segment

Wintel is the term for personal computers that run on Microsoft Windows operating system and Intel microprocessors. Microsoft built the operating system and Intel built the chips which together formed the foundation of personal computers. For decades, these two companies worked side by side and managed to fulfill the vision of putting a windows computer on every desk and in every home. Intel’s influence in the tech world runs for decades and it still rules the tech market across the world. About 99% of computer servers in the world use Intel chips and it is pretty much the only option for availing decent chip.  There is no other competitor for intel; even digital companies like Google, Amazon use intel chips.

In enterprise segment Wintel dominated the market for over 2 decades with tech innovations. However, with the advancement of smartphones, the influence of Intel has diminished. Tech giants are looking at other options for their business. In a recent press conference, Microsoft announced its plan to work with ARM chips. The two companies have decided to walk their separate ways. This doesn’t mean the end of Wintel as the device will still continue to work but there will not be upgrades or new Wintel models coming up.

Smartphones – A Game-changer

Smartphones are your handheld PCs that can help to perform simple tasks like responding to e-mails, scheduling meetings etc. However, smartphones have evolved over the years and are gearing up to replace the traditional PCs at workplace. Smartphone giants like Apple and Samsung create their own chips and devices, dominating the mobile phone industry.

These days, smartphones have better specifications that PCs such as 2.5 GHz octo-core processors, 4 GB RAM and expandable memory. With large screen tablets and advanced smartphone features, people abandon traditional PCs for their everyday work. Many have increasingly comfortable using smartphones with bigger screen to work on anything from viewing a spreadsheet to writing a full report on Word. The modern day smartphones have become the primary gateway for internet and media usage due to the rise of cloud computing.

Smartphone makers have developed suites to replace personal computers with smartphones. Recent launch of Samsung DeX running with Android, Windows Continuum and Remix Singularity using Android are some of the examples that bring the possibility of transforming smartphones into PCs.

New versions of smartphones are designed to run productive and creative applications along with the ability to scale and adapt to any screen size. They can be attached to tablets, laptops, TV, Monitors and other consoles even using Bluetooth.

Android open source project paved the way for smartphones to scale up the demand of running on ARM processors which are expected to be a competition to Intel processors. Cloud computing, web apps and streaming services of smartphones are invaluable as they reduced the dependency of PCs for work related projects.

 The Real Question: Are We There Yet?

Though smartphones are at the summit of innovation, are they good enough to replace PCs in the enterprise sector? The answer is no. People are still reluctant to change to smartphones due the comfort of using PCs for complex tasks than the capability of the device. They are not used to perform heavy work on a small screen and thus convenience overtook technology.

Also, Microsoft released an update on Windows OS which has made a positive change in the enterprise sector. Companies have updated to Windows 10 which brought a better PC sales and expected to grow in 2018. According to a survey conducted by Gartner in the USA, United Kingdom, China, India and Germany, it is reported that the business PC shipments will return to growth by the end of 2017 and PC market is set to grow 0.8% in 2018.

Also, the smartphones that are capable of transforming into PCs have technical glitches like only one screen can be operated at a time, lag in heavy application run, lack of creative apps etc. Due to these factors and the development of PC operating systems, it is likely that the personal computers like Wintel may not disappear from the enterprise world.

What May Come In 5-Years’ Time?

The smartphones are undeniably a part of our work culture as people tend to use Google services for e-mail, hangout sessions and other applications for swift communication like messenger and Whatsapp applications. Now that the smartphone makers know the pros and cons of transforming smartphones to PCs, it is only a matter of time that we bid good bye to Wintel PCs and welcome much user friendly and affordable smartphones on our desks at workplace.