Will PC makers succeed to influence consumers' choice over smartphones and tablets?

Intel, Microsoft, HP, Dell and Lenovo have collaborated for a “unified” advertising campaign in order to spread awareness among prospective computer buyers about all the things a modern PC can perform, Re/Code reported.

Appropriately, the campaign has been given the slogan “PC Does What?” and will run in the U.S. and China reportedly. The main idea behind the campaign is to let people know that the latest PCs do a lot more than the machine they likely have at home and at work.

With consumer preference increasingly shifting towards smartphones, tablet, computer sales has been badly hit in the past couple of years. When Intel launched its newest chip family, it noted that there are 500 million PCs out there that are five years old or older.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 73.7 million units in the third quarter of 2015, a 7.7 percent decline from the third quarter of 2014, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.

"This change in consumer preferences toward PCs was visible in the preliminary data, as we saw positive growth in U.S notebook and premium ultramobile shipments," Ms. Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, said. "Soft recovery is expected to start in 4Q15, as Windows 10 product refreshes start to appear. In the meantime, PC manufacturers should adjust configurations for 2016 without the impact of price hikes seen in 2015, which will lead into more stable market conditions in the upcoming year."

According to an IDC report published in August, global PC sales are expected to fall by more than 8 percent in 2015 and not stabilize until 2017.

"The PC market continues to contract as expected, but we remain optimistic about future shipments," said Jay Chou, Research Manager, IDC Worldwide PC Tracker. "While PC shipments will be hampered in the short run by the availability of a free upgrade to Windows 10, the improved PC experience across user segments should drive longer-term demand for new PC hardware that is expected help stabilize the market in 2016 and beyond."

While a major chunk of the funds required for the campaign is coming from Intel and Microsoft, the other PC partners - Dell, Lenovo and HP are also contributing to the effort.