Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ), Apple Inc. (AAPL) & Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) – Life After Death: The Tablet and the PC

PC’s are on life-support right now. The ventilators, defibrillators, nurses and doctors are everywhere – and for good reason. Their patient is dying, and its obvious who will take his place. No, not their place in the hospital, their place in life. Think of it as the next successful successor.

The International Data Center (IDC) has released data showing that in 2013 overall tablet sales will outpace PC’s for the first time. Not only are tablet sales expected to increase, but IDC expects sales to decrease for the second year in a row for PC’s. Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) is one of the major PC makers in the world right now. As would be expected, 2011 revenues were virtually flat from the year before, while 2012 revenues dropped nearly 6% throughout the year. In addition, the companies twelve trailing months of revenues have declined by nearly $1.7 billion since the beginning of the year, a total of 1.4%.

It doesn’t look promising for companies that are still majorly focused on the PC, but their successors are likely already in place. Companies such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have been growing – in large part because of their mobile presence. The graph below shows just how quickly the tablet market is expected to grow.

So what exactly has Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) done that makes me believe they will continue to grow? Well first of all, Apple sold 19.5 million iPads in the first quarter of this year. IDC reports that 77 million PC units were sold globally in the first quarter of 2013 – this was 13.9% lower than the quarter before. In the first quarter of 2012, PC sales were up, but since then, have fallen drastically.  Despite Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) being the largest PC manufacturer in the world, IDC reports that the company experienced a 24% drop in units shipped.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) doesn’t often release specific numbers on sales/shipments, but we can be assured that those figures will rise with the expansion of their markets. The company recently announced its expansion of Kindle Fire HD devices, as well as the expansion of their Appstore for Android. The Appstore will now be available in an additional 200 countries, while the its new tablet will expand by 170 international markets.