Sony's decision to exit the PC business means that after 17 years in the industry, the Vaio brand will probably disappear from western retailers before the end of 2014. As the PC market has contracted over the past two years, from a peak of 361m in 2011 to 315m last year, it has become harder for smaller players to make a profit. Calculations based on financial results suggest that the average selling price of a PC made by the "big five" fell from $614 at the start of 2010 to $544 (£332) in the autumn of 2013.

Ranjit Atwal, devices analyst at research firm Gartner, says there is a shakeout coming. The PC market is dominated by five big companies – China's Lenovo, the American HP and Dell firms, and Taiwan's Acer and Asus. Together they ship 60% of the PCs sold globally a year. Apple has just over 5% of the market. That leaves about a third of the market for the smaller players, and far less of the profits.

Profits per PC for those big five companies, though, have dropped from $15.71, or 2.6% of the selling price, to $14.87. That is not evenly spread: Asus is the most profitable, while Acer reportedly has made an operating loss for the past three quarters. And those five are the companies that build at real scale, shipping between 5m and 15m units every quarter. Atwal ranks Toshiba, Samsung, Sony, and Fujitsu as the "bottom four" – together they had about 12% of the market last year – and as those most under pressure.

"Sony will not be the last to say goodbye to PC hardware," says Ben Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies, in California. "Those who survive will reap the rewards."