For the first time ever this year, tablets are expected to outsell PCs– research conducted by IDC (International Data Corporation) has revealed.
Signs of this have been visible in shipment and sales trends over the past few years. During 2012, worldwide shipment of ‘internet connected devices’ grew by 29.1%. This increase was driven largely by a 78.4% year on year growth in tablet sales (128 million tablet units were sold in 2012).
If those numbers weren’t whopping enough, IDC predict that the amount of tablets sold this year is expected to reach 190 million units; while the smartphone market is also expected to grow by 27% this year to over 900 million units. And just to wow you with numbers a little bit more, by 2017 it has been predicted that over 350 million tablets and 1.5 billion smartphones will be sold per year.
Meanwhile, sales of desktop computers are in “a gentle decline worldwide”, with laptop sales remaining tentatively balanced (declining in established markets but increasing in developing ones).
The tablet market was born just 3 years ago with the release of the first ever iPad and since that day Apple has held the biggest market share of tablet sales. But the tides are slowly turning; Apple’s market share fell from 51.7% in 2011 to 41.3% last year, while Samsung’s flagship Galaxy tablet share more than doubled from 7.3% to 15.1%. Although still way behind, the signs suggest they are slowly creeping up on Apple.
And they’re pipping Apple to the post overall. Samsung holds the leading market share of all internet connected devices with 21.1% compared to Apples 20.3% share (which has been boosted by the iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini).
“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’s Bob O’Donnell said. “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.”
Are you thinking of buying an iPad, Galaxy or even the Microsoft Surface (yes, yes yes!) If so then don’t forget to recycle an old gadget, especially if you want to sell your tablet, here with us at OnRecycle to help balance things out. As lovely as they are in their heyday, when left abandoned or thrown away these devices mutate into something pretty darned ugly and harmful for the environment.
