Gates, Otellini take aim at PC sceptics

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Bill Gates and Paul Otellini, two of the PC industry's titans, say reports of the personal computer's (PC) demise are premature as PCs find new functions in the growing market for digital devices, including mobile phones and music players.

Mr Gates, co-founder and chairman of Microsoft Corp and Mr Otellini, chief executive of Intel Corp, wrote in an opinion piece in Monday's Wall Street Journal that the personal computer is entering a new era, becoming the hub for a variety of digital devices.

They say they are responding to reports in the Journal that the PC "doesn't apply to the world of digital devices".

In fact, the PC is becoming a "key enabler" of such devices, the executives wrote.

Their letter comes as worldwide PC shipment growth has slowed to 12.9 per cent in the first quarter from 15.9 per cent a year earlier, according to market researcher IDC.

It is the latest salvo in a long-standing debate over the future of the PC, with sceptics saying the growing popularity of devices, such as Apple Computer Inc's iPod music player, digital cameras and video recorders could make the traditional home computer obsolete.

Intel, which makes microprocessors used in about 80 per cent of PCs, is facing tough competition from Advanced Micro Devices Inc, while Microsoft is investing more money in its business to compete with the likes of Google Inc, Yahoo Inc and Salesforce.com, which can deliver software over the Internet.

"The PC has expanded far beyond its original use to become much more than just a sophisticated tool for creating documents and spreadsheets," Mr Gates and Mr Otellini wrote in their opinion column.

"Today, we use it as a communication device, a radio, a TV, a movie theatre and a photo album."

Mr Gates and Mr Otellini say that, last year, laptop computers based on Intel's Centrino mobile processors and Microsoft's Windows XP operating system outsold the popular iPod.

They ask rhetorically where people go to share pictures from digital cameras, download music and videos, synchronise contacts, calendars and email on wireless devices or "search for that episode of 'Lost' you missed last week.

"You sit down at your PC, of course," Mr Gates and Mr Otellini wrote.

-Reuters