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.

According to IHS iSuppli 2012 WW NAND flash memory revenues drop by -7% to $19.7 billion (down from $21.2bn in 2011) as ultrabook sales negate the impact of surging demand from Apple.

The analyst is still hopeful for the future though, and predicts 2013 revenues will rise to $22.4bn before expanding during the next few years.

“Because of its high-memory density, combined with high-volume shipments, Apple’s iPhone line in 2012 was the largest single consumer of NAND, helping to increase demand for the memory from the smartphone market,” iSuppli remarks. “However Ultrabook sales fell short of industry expectations, dragging down the overall NAND market for the year.”

Apple iPhones consume 10.5% of the total 2012 NAND flash supply-- while all other smartphones use just 10.4%. The iPhone has an average NAND flash density of 24.5GB, the highest in all smartphones according to the analyst.

Apple is the top Q4 2012 global PC maker according to Canalys, shipping 27 million units with over 20% share of the market as overall PC shipments reach 134m units with 12% Y-o-Y growth.

Samsung and Amazon also feature in the PC maker ranks, while Windows 8 has little effect on flat W. European notebook shipments.

Such numbers contrast sharply with those from Gartner and IDC, who paint a fair gloomier picture of the PC market-- but one has to keep in mind Canalys counts tablets as PCs in its totals, Continue reading...

Global Q4 2012 tablet shipments outpace forecasts with "record" totals according to IDC, as the market grows by 75.3% Y-o-Y and shipments reach 52.5 million units, up from 29.9m in Q4 2011.

Catalysts for such growth include lower average selling prices (ASPs), a wider product range and increased holiday spending.

Of course, tablets are a stark contrast to PCs-- where shipments saw declines during the holiday season, a first in over 5 years.

Apple continues to lead the market, with shipments reaching 22.9m units (wih 48.1% Y-o-Y growth) thanks to the iPad mini and 4th generation iPad launches. However increasingly strong competition continues to cause decline in Apple tablet share, from 46.4% in Q3 2012 to 43.6% in Q4.

According to a Goldman Sachs report acquired by The Seattle Times, Windows lost massive share in the global compute market-- from being the OS of choice in 97% of all computing devices in 2000 to just 20% in 2012.

The reason for such a drop? The mobile device explosion, of course.

When one (as Goldman Sachs does) counts smartphones and tablets with laptops and PCs Google is 2012 platform leader-- Android OS resides in 42% of global computing devices.

Apple comes 2nd, with the combination of OSX and iOS taking over 24% share. Interestingly Apple share jumped massively during the 2004-2005 period (from 5% to 21%), a shift Goldman Sachs attributes to the "more mainstream adoption of non-PC consumer computing devices."

Microsoft follows with just 20% share.

Goldman Sachs describes 2012 as a "critical" year for Microsoft if the company wants to expand its share of the consumer compute market-- a market, one has to emphasise, is rather influential on an enterprise sphere in the days of the BYOD trend.

Global smart connected device (the combination of PCs, tablets and smartphones) shipments grow by 27.1% Y-o-Y during Q3 2012, with shipments reaching a record of 303.6 million units worth $140.4 billion, IDC reports.

The analyst has further positive forecasts for the segment-- Q4 2012 shipments will grow by 26.5% Y-o-Y (or 19.2% Q-o-Q) to 362m units as demand for tablets and smartphones fuels sales during the holidays.

According to the analyst Q4 2012 tablet Y-o-Y growth will reach 55.8%, while Continue reading...

The smaller iPad will "turbocharge" the 7-inch tablet market IHS iSuppli reports, pushing the device category to nearly 100% growth as shipments reach 34 million in 2012 and 67m in 2013.

According to the analyst 2011 7-inch tablet shipments total 17m.

“Just as Apple has dominated the market for 9.7-inch tablets the company is poised to rule the market for 7-inch products, driving rapid growth of the segment in 2012 and 2013,” iSuppli remarks. "Apple will successfully position the smaller iPad Continue reading...

High prices and ineffective marketing are the chief reasons customers ignore ultrabooks in favour of hotter mobile devices-- and IHS iSuppli slashes ultrabook shipment forecasts for the 2012-2013 period.

The analyst predicts 2012 ultrabook shipments will total 10.3 million (with Q4 2012 to account for around 50% of the amount), down from previous projections of 22m units for the year.

iSuppli also revises 2013 forecasts-- 44m, down from a far more optimistic figure of 61m.

"The PC industry Continue reading...