In my last column, I offered PC vendors some advice on how to position Windows 8 systems. That’s not a miracle cure for solving PC players’ woes. All that will do is pry from the industry’s hand the pistol it’s using to shoot itself in the foot. PC vendors will need to do more if they want to re-inject excitement into their products and get their business back on a growth trajectory.

Here’s the bottom line: PC vendors need to incorporate model years into their product positioning. You know, like the automobile makers do.

Smartphones and tablets — the devices that are eating the PC’s lunch — exploit the model-year concept. Suppliers leverage their annual rollouts to generate pull from consumers, and consumers respond. PC vendors, meanwhile, continue to manage new releases like it’s 1999.

That’s not entirely the OEMs’ fault. But it is entirely their problem.

Implementing model years doesn’t have to be that complicated. Click HERE to find out how.