The PC-centric era is over,” the IDC report says. Within 18 months, it forecasts, non-PC devices capable of running software applications will outsell PCs. In tablets, IDC adds, Apple’s iPad will remain the leader, but lower-cost tablets will begin making inroads, especially as demand for tablets really takes off in emerging markets. IDC uses a hardware-centered definition of technology eras — devices that open up computing to large new groups of users. So, by its definition, the first era began in the 1960s, when many people got access to computers, seated at mainframe terminals. Next came personal computers in the 1980s, and mobile devices that are full-fledged computers were next.