Consumer PC sales growth declines for first time ever: iPad the culprit?

Business Insider has posted a chart that tracks consumer PC growth from June of 2007 to March of 2011. According to the chart consumer PC sales have grown by at least 10 percent every quarter, until December 2010 when it remained flat. In the quarter ending March 2011, consumer PC sales actually went down 4 percent.

Business Insider says that "Microsoft's consumer PC sales growth has pretty much never declined. Not even when Microsoft released Vista. Not even when the economy went in the toilet. But suddenly, the growth of sales is about to go negative." Business Insider attributes this coming negative slump to the iPad. While you can present the same data in many different ways and draw different conclusions about what's causing a particular decline, I do think Business Insider has a point.

For many consumers an iPad is more than enough. If you only need a computer to browse the net, why buy a rigid box you need to sit at a desk to use? Why not just get a tablet you can use from the comfort of your couch? Do you think the iPad causing a decline in consumer PC sales? Let us know in the poll below.