IDC: Smart Connected Devices Reach 1 Billion in 2012

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Global smart connected device (desktop and notebook PCs, tablets and smartphones) shipments reach 1 billion units in 2012 IDC reports, growing by 29.1% with revenues worth $576.9 billion.

Shipments in Q4 2012 amount to nearly 378m and revenues are over $168m as Apple closes in on market leader Samsung with 20.3% unit shipment share (versus 21.2% for Samsung) thanks to the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini.

Smart connected devices

Apple dominates Q4 2012 on a revenue basis, with 30.7% share versus 20.4% Samsung share.

On a regional basis, according to IDC 2012 volume growth in mature markets totals 15.6% with a "huge plunge" in PC shipments. On the other hand emerging markets show 41.3% growth in 2012, with 111.3% tablet and 69.7% smartphone volume growth.

"In emerging markets, consumer spending typically starts with mobile phones and, in many cases, moves to tablets before PCs," the analyst says. "The pressure on the PC market is significantly increasing and we can see longer replacement cycles coming into effect very soon and that, too, will put downward pressure on PC sales."

For the future, IDC forecasts tablet shipments will surpass desktop PCs in 2013 and portable PC in 2014, as WW 2013 desktop PC shipments drop by -4.3% while portable PCs maintain flat 0.9% growth. On the other hand tablet shipments should reach 190m with 48.7% growth and smartphones should grow by 27.2% to 918.5m units.

Further on, the WW smart connect device shipments should reach over 2.2 billion units with $814.3bn in revenues by 2017.

"Consumers and business buyers are now starting to see smartphones, tablets, and PCs as a single continuum of connected devices separated primarily by screen size," IDC concludes. "Each of these devices is primarily used for data applications and different individuals choose different sets of screen sizes in order to fit their unique needs. These kinds of developments are creating exciting new opportunities that will continue to drive the smart connected devices market forward in a positive way."

Go IDC Smart Connected Device Tracker