According to IDC the smart connected device (SCD) market shows strong growth in W. Europe during Q3 2013, with combined PC, tablet and smartphone shipments reaching 55 million units with 12% Y-o-Y growth.

The analyst forecasts 2013 shipments will exceed 230m units in the Western side of the continent, an 11% increase over 2012.

Predictably smartphones and tablets drive spending not only on SCDs, but on CE as a whole-- tablets in particular, with Q3 2013 growth within the SCD market reaching 38% Y-o-Y and overall 2013 shipments set to reach 45m units with 53.1% growth. The quarter was one of transition for a number of vendors ahead of traditional holiday season launches, and Q4 2013 is set to be "another bouyant quarter" IDC says.

According to Canalys Q3 2013 global PC shipments are up by 18% Y-o-Y... wait, PC growth in this day and age? You see, unlike other analysts Canalys counts tablets as PCs-- and points out tablets as the only PC segment showing growth.

The analyst says tablets account for 40% of Q3 2013 PC shipments, or "less than half a million behind global notebook shipments." It also forecasts 2014 tablet shipments reaching 285 million (or 50% of overall PC shipments) before growing to 396m by 2017.

Thanks to the iPad Apple is top PC vendor, and also one of the few with a "steady" desktop and notebook business. However Apple should lose PC market share to vendors selling more competitive devices if it continues to insist on protecting its immense gross margins.

According to Infonetics Research multiscreen video is an important networking industry driver, pushing global H1 2013 home networking device revenues worth $5.4 billion with 6% Y-o-Y growth.

“Like broadband CPE, home networking devices continue to grow as fixed broadband subscribers increase around the globe," the analyst says. "The types of services being delivered over data networks are growing as well, with the most important being multiscreen video.”

W. European and N. American operators distribute video around the home through higher-end gateways and STBs packing both wired and wireless technology. These in turn drive a secondary market of MoCA STBs and HomePlug adapters connecting TVs, Blu-ray player, game consoles and a growing peripheral ecosystem to home networks.

The European continent sees a stark divide when it comes to average purchasing power GfK reports, as the spectrum ranges from 4.5 times the European average in Liechtenstein to one-tenth the average in Moldova.

According to the analyst approximately €8.62 trillion worth of spending and saving money is available to consumers from 41 European countries in 2013, making average per-capita purchasing power of €12890. However "considerable discrepancies" remain-- from €58844 per-capita in Liechtenstein to just €1848 in Moldova.

The analyst defines purchasing power as "the money available to consumers for all expenditures related to food, accommodation and services as well as consumer purchases." Arguably the inhabitants of more affluent countries devote large portions of income on essentials such as rent and higher living costs, but they still retain more money for non-essential purchases than consumers with lower purchasing power.