How much of that drop is attributable to "casual users" who never needed more than basic web browsing, multimedia playback, and maybe some simple word processing? Gaming and data processing are still very much in the realm of PCs. Sure, PCs aren't good for "big data" applications, but most power users can get away with using a decent laptop or desktop PC. I can see desktop PCs getting squeezed down into the niche market for gamers and hobbyists, while laptops survive in the business/work/student world.
How much of that drop is attributable to "casual users" who never needed more than basic web browsing, multimedia playback, and maybe some simple word processing? Gaming and data processing are still very much in the realm of PCs. Sure, PCs aren't good for "big data" applications, but most power users can get away with using a decent laptop or desktop PC. I can see desktop PCs getting squeezed down into the niche market for gamers and hobbyists, while laptops survive in the business/work/student world.