Laptop sales have been increasing lately with the decline of tablet sales. The tablet, once touted as the laptop killer, is slowly sinking in popularity.

The reason behind the increase in laptop sales is said to be partly due to Microsoft stopping its support for the Windows XP operating system.

Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly stands by this idea as the driving force behind increasing laptop sales.

He said on Wednesday, “The tablets boomed and now are crashing. The volume has really gone down in the last several months. But I think the laptop has something of a revival because it’s becoming more versatile.”

With the introduction of devices like the Microsoft Surface, the lines between tablet and laptop became somewhat blurred. This has been a popular option, especially for students. Who wants to carry around both?

Joly said of the combination, “So, with the two-in-ones, you have the opportunity to have both a tablet and laptop, and that’s appealing to students in particular. So you have an evolution. The boundaries are not as well defined as they used to be.”

The growth in laptop sales isn’t astronomical, but it is enough to make one not see them as down for the count.

Joly says part of the problem with the tablet, which is causing its sales to decrease and laptop sales to rise, could be that there hasn’t been a great need for replacement if you have a tablet.

“As a consumer. I think replacement is the issue. The penetration has gone so fast that it’s reaching an amazing degree and therefore it becomes more of a replacement market, and the level of innovation in the past year has not been as great as it had been in the previous two years. So, there again, the jury’s out in terms of what’s going to happen, because it’s going to depend on what innovation comes to market. But you need a reason to replace.”

What do you think? Are you ready to ride the wave of increasing laptop sales and give up your tablet? Or do you still love the convenience and portability of a tablet too much?

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