The smart connected device market is still growing and as more industries start the full adoption of digital technology and BYOD policies, more of these devices will be sold. The 27.1 percent growth in this global economic climate underscores the need and popularity of smartphones, tablets and PCs. The IDC Tracker provides valuable information about this sector including forecasts, market size and vendor share for more than 100 countries across the globe.
Total shipment for the third quarter in 2012 reached a record 303.6 million at a value of $140.4 billion. The expectation for the holiday season is a double digit growth in the fourth quarter, with shipments expected to reach 360.2 million units with a $169.2 billion market value. The growth is going to be driven mostly by a 55.8 percent year-over-year increase for smartphones and 39.5 percent for tablets. Since the introduction of these devices, the PC market has been declining, experiencing only single digit growth.
Image via Shutterstock
The market share for vendors was led by Samsung at 21.8 percent followed by Apple at 15.1, Lenovoe 7.0 and HP at 4.6 percent. The remaining vendors accounted for 51.6 percent of the market. While Apple has the second biggest market share, it had the largest value amongst all the vendors accounting for $34.1 billion in the third quarter of 2012. The average selling price across all device categories was also achieved by Apple with $744.
"The battle between Samsung and Apple at the top of the smart connected device space is stronger than ever. Both vendors compete at the top of the tablet and smartphone markets. However, the difference in their collective ASPs is a telling sign of different market approaches. The fact that Apple's ASP is $310 higher than Samsung's with just over 20 million fewer shipments in the quarter speaks volumes about the premium product line that Apple sells," said Ryan Reith, program manager, Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers at IDC.
According to IDC, its forecast for this market is very bright. It is expecting a robust growth with an estimated 2.1 billion units shipped in 2016 with a $776.7 billion market value globally. The PC market will continue to diminish and smartphones will be the device of choice. It will increase from the 53.1 percent rate of 2011 to 66.7 percent by 2016. Tablets will also see a surge from 7.7 percent to 13.4 percent by 2016.
While laptops and desktops will be part of the workforce and home computing, cloud service are eliminating the need for big bulky computing devices. A smartphone or tablet with broadband access can perform tasks previously reserved for large computers eliminating the need for PC for most people.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
