December holidays may be months away, but this early, experts are already confident that there is one item that will dominate most Christmas trees everywhere amid the glow of menorah candles – tablets.
According to IDC Worldwide Quarterly Smart Connected Device Tracker, worldwide tablet shipments will surpass those of PCs for the first time during the fourth quarter, making holiday-season shopping something of the beginning of a gradual dethroning of desktops and laptops.
However, this does not change the fact that PC shipments still outnumber tablets for the year as a whole, and IDC projects that tablets will remain the worldwide underdog on an annual basis until the end of 2015. But could this be the beginning of the great shift? Will tablets become the new PCs in more way than one? What about the new computer format that is steadily rising that tends to away at sales – the big-screen smartphones? Will the so-called "phablets" continue to lure people away from the lower end of the tablet market, slowing down growth in the industry?
"The device world has seen several iterations of cannibalization impacting different categories, with the last few years focused on tablets cannibalizing PC sales," says IDC’s Bob O’Donnell. "Over the next 12 to 18 months, however, we believe the larger smartphones … will start to eat into the smaller-size tablet market."
At the same time, high-end smartphones is expected to lose ground to cheaper, more basic smartphones, especially in developing markets. In the short term, the shift in consumption stands to benefit companies that do well in mobile devices at the expense of those that had made their names producing PCs — hence Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia and Michael Dell’s move to take his company private.
However, the relentless march to cheaper computing devices will mean a tighter future for device makers. IDC says the overall connected-device market, which includes PCs, tablets, and smartphones, will grow 27.8 percent year over year in 2013. But those shipments add up to only 10.6 percent more revenue for the industry. By 2017, IDC says revenue will grow only 3.1 percent and the price of an average device cost will fall to US$ 323, down from US$ 423 in 2012.
Of course, each tablet, phablet, and smartphone can serve as a conduit for digital-media consumption, putting companies that also control mobile operating systems in an enviable position. Primarily, this means Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.
IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semi-annual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly excel deliverables and on-line query tools. The IDC Tracker Charts app allows users to view data charts from the most recent IDC Tracker products on their iPhone and iPad.
According to IDC Worldwide Quarterly Smart Connected Device Tracker, worldwide tablet shipments will surpass those of PCs for the first time during the fourth quarter, making holiday-season shopping something of the beginning of a gradual dethroning of desktops and laptops.
However, this does not change the fact that PC shipments still outnumber tablets for the year as a whole, and IDC projects that tablets will remain the worldwide underdog on an annual basis until the end of 2015. But could this be the beginning of the great shift? Will tablets become the new PCs in more way than one? What about the new computer format that is steadily rising that tends to away at sales – the big-screen smartphones? Will the so-called "phablets" continue to lure people away from the lower end of the tablet market, slowing down growth in the industry?
"The device world has seen several iterations of cannibalization impacting different categories, with the last few years focused on tablets cannibalizing PC sales," says IDC’s Bob O’Donnell. "Over the next 12 to 18 months, however, we believe the larger smartphones … will start to eat into the smaller-size tablet market."
At the same time, high-end smartphones is expected to lose ground to cheaper, more basic smartphones, especially in developing markets. In the short term, the shift in consumption stands to benefit companies that do well in mobile devices at the expense of those that had made their names producing PCs — hence Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia and Michael Dell’s move to take his company private.
However, the relentless march to cheaper computing devices will mean a tighter future for device makers. IDC says the overall connected-device market, which includes PCs, tablets, and smartphones, will grow 27.8 percent year over year in 2013. But those shipments add up to only 10.6 percent more revenue for the industry. By 2017, IDC says revenue will grow only 3.1 percent and the price of an average device cost will fall to US$ 323, down from US$ 423 in 2012.
Of course, each tablet, phablet, and smartphone can serve as a conduit for digital-media consumption, putting companies that also control mobile operating systems in an enviable position. Primarily, this means Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.
IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semi-annual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly excel deliverables and on-line query tools. The IDC Tracker Charts app allows users to view data charts from the most recent IDC Tracker products on their iPhone and iPad.
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