“you don't change your PC every single year. At least I guess the average PC life is somewhere between 2 years and 3 years nowadays on average [...] Smartphone

“you don't change your PC every single year. At least I guess the average PC life is somewhere between 2 years and 3 years nowadays on average [...] Smartphone owners tend to change theirs every year or so.” I think it’s closer to 5 years for personal computers and 2 years for smartphones. But even if your estimate is more accurate, that’s a problem for Microsoft. They’d love for people to buy a new PC every year, that’s when they make money on licenses. Consumers don’t buy Windows upgrades anymore. “It does not really make sense to compare both markets [PCs and mobile devices.” Windows is not just for PCs, Windows also ships on smartphones and tablets. The problem is that consumers aren’t buying those devices, instead they buy Apple and Samsung devices, from which Microsoft gets a very small cut. “[The PC and mobile devices markets] don't overlap that much.” Mobile devices cannibalize the PC market. The PC market is shrinking and many people choose not to replace their old PC but to buy a tablet.