Desperate or Genius? The PC Industry Bands Together on Ad Push

Re/Code says the campaign will run simultaneously in both the US and China, with the aim of showing people how the latest machines running Windows 10 can do so much more than their current PCs.

In an apparent first, HP, Dell and Lenovo are putting aside their differences and linking arms in a unified advertising campaign created to reinvigorate PC sales, according to Re/Code. These “PC Does What?” ads will focus on the versatility and flexibility of modern PCs. After a few PC makers expressed concerns that Microsoft’s device may steal business away from them, the Redmond, Washington-based company’s financial contribution to the ‘PC does what?’ campaign may go a few way toward placating them. Typically, they do not work in concert with the PC makers, but this time they are cooperating for the overall good. Most new PCs are now powered by Windows 10, which Microsoft bills as its best operating system yet. When Intel launched its Skylake processors last month, it pointed out that “more than 600 million computers in use today are five years or older” and “can’t take advantage of all the new experiences available today”. Well, worldwide PC shipments totalled 73.7 million units in Q3 2015 – a 7.7 per cent decline from Q3 2014, according to Gartner. Well, a whole bunch of PC makers are taking it to heart.

But the pendulum may be poised to swing in the other direction.

In an effort to reverse a recent decline in iPad sales, Apple introduced a larger version of its trendsetting tablet that’s created to behave much like a laptop. “Those are still relatively new”, and could prove to be attractive to consumers. Let me know what you think of the ads in the poll below.