As PC sales slip, Microsoft, Lenovo, HP and Dell band together for 'PC Does What?' campaign

Unholy alliance tries to revitalise the market

Major PC manufacturers including Dell, HP, Intel, Lenovo and Microsoft have put aside territorial feelings on the ailing desktop and laptop sectors to try to sell a comprehensive message about PCs and what they can do.

The move was already rumoured as a Microsoft-led strategy after Dell's president of Enterprise Solutions told press the company was "not happy about" Microsoft's apparent encroachment on the laptop market after announcing the Surface Book recently.

Computing issued a shout-out to PC manufacturers to begin designing more innovative machines earlier this week, as Gartner and IDC shipping figures agreed that the desktop and laptop market is being rapidly stolen away by the tablet market.

"PC Does What?" comes in the form of short TV or web commercials in the US and China, and broadly covers areas such as advanced graphics capabilities, hybridisation and gaming potential with the slogan "PC does what no PC has done before" appearing in each case.

The campaign is the first time PC manufacturers have appeared on a common front when trying to promote themselves, with Intel, Dell, HP and Lenovo branding appearing together. Traditionally, Microsoft or Intel would handle advertising and focus on just one brand as a promotion partner.

What is perhaps interesting about the advertising is its close focus on hybridisation – revealing many aspects of "PC" use which are, in fact, simply tablet functions anyway: foldaway keyboards seem a particular highlight of the advertising.

But as Intel faces a six per cent year-on-year income drop linked closely to the dipping laptop and desktop sector – despite a 15 per cent increase in the selling price of its CPUs – it seems as good a plan as any for the chip giant to find a way to highlight the advantages of every device it puts its products in through one handy advertising channel.