According to a report by research firm IDC, tablet PCs will overtake desktop PCs for the first time this year, ushering in a "post-PC era".
Is the era of the traditional PCs (Desktops and notebooks) finally nearing its end? Well, the latest predictions by research firm IDC say the shipment for tablets is going to overtake – for the first time – desktop PCs in 2013 and notebooks in 2014.
IDC says the global shipments of smart connected devices had increased about 30 percent in 2012, surpassing last year’s 1 billion units shipped and some $576.9 billion generated. The research firm says the growth of the smart connected devices was propelled by the tablet market, which went on to see a whopping 78 percent growth and 128 million units shipped last year.
The major observation, however, made in IDC’s report is the tablets will surpass shipments of desktop PCs this year and the “portable” PCs next year.
IDC also notes shipments of desktop PCs will continue dipping, another 4.3 percent, in 2013 whereas portable PCs will see a marginal growth of 0.9 percent. The research firm highlights demand for the traditional PCs were seeing a decline even in emerging markets.
“In emerging markets, consumer spending typically starts with mobile phones and, in many cases, moves to tablets before PCs,” said Megha Saini, Research Analyst for IDC’s Worldwide Smart Connected Device Tracker, in a press statement.
“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.”
Tablets, although, are predicted to register a new high of 190 million units shipped in 2013 with year-over-year growth of more than 48 percent. IDC says smartphones will also grow another 27 percent, posting 918.5 million units shipments this year.
In terms of market share of smart connected devices, Apple significantly closes the gap with market leader Samsung in the last quarter of 2012 with the combination of the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini bringing the company up to 20.3 percent unit shipment share as compared to 21.2 percent for Samsung.
Source: Business Wire,