Visit our other websites:    On CE ... eSP ... Mobile Channels ... ECI news ... rAVe Europe ... Digital Signage News EMEA

IDC: Smartphones, Tablets Drive Connected Devices

E-mail Print PDF

Smart connected device (desktop and portable PCs, tablets and smartphones) shipments total 367.7 million units in Q4 2012 with 28.3% Y-o-Y growth IDC reports-- with smartphones and tablets driving growth as PCs decline.

Overall 2012 shipments total 1.2 billion units.

According to the analyst PC shipments are down (desktops by -4.1% Y-o-Y, portables -3.4%), tablets show record 78.4% Y-o-Y growth and smartphones grow by 46.1% while accounting for 60.1% of all 2012 smart connected device shipments.

IDC Connected devices

"Smartphones and tablets are growing at a pace that PCs can't realistically keep up with because of device prices and to some extent disposability," IDC remarks. "The average selling price (ASP) for a tablet declined 15.0% in 2012 to $461, and we expect that trend to continue in 2013. However, smartphone APSs are still lower at $408. We expect smartphones to continue to carry a shorter life cycle than PCs for the years to come based on price, use case, and overall device size."

Samsung beats Apple to smart connected device leadership, with 2012 shipments reaching 250m devices and 20% share in the 4 device categories. Apple however still leads in tablets, even if Samsung rules when it comes to smartphone and portable PC shipments.

"Q4 2012 market share numbers showed a fairly dramatic resurgence for Apple," IDC continues. "After falling well behind Samsung early in 2012, Apple came roaring back in Q4 thanks to the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini and reduced the market share gap to less than a single percentage point. The question moving forward will be whether or not Apple can maintain its hit parade against the juggernaut of Samsung."

Go Mobility Reigns as Smart Connected Device Market Rises (IDC)