The state of the PC industry is not looking great. According to analyst firm Gartner, worldwide PC shipments fell 5.7 percent in the third quarter of 2016 to 68.9 million units. That marks the “the eighth consecutive quarter of PC shipment decline, the longest duration of decline in the history of the PC industry,” Gartner writes in a press release issued today. The firm cites poor back-to-school sales and lowered demand in emerging markets. But the larger issue, as it has been for quite some time, is more existential than that.

“The PC is not a high priority device for the majority of consumers, so they do not feel the need to upgrade their PCs as often as they used to,” writes Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa. “Some may never decide…

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