The arrival of smartphones ‘en masse’ on
the market has demonstrated to what extent the world of information and
communication technology has now become virtually synonymous with
mobile. And this fusion seems to be intensifying with the rise of
tablets.
The smartphone now dominates sales of connected devices. A
presentation by
Benedict Evans, a strategy consultant at London-based
Enders Analysis, left the audience at the
BookExpo America Convention,
running from 30 May to I June in New York City, in no doubt of this
fact. In 2012, sales of computers – laptops and desktop PCs – fell
slightly, to somewhat fewer than 200 million units. In contrast,
smartphone sales have exploded, moving from 300 to over 600 million
devices sold between 2011 and 2012. And if you take into account all
mobile devices, the figure rises to 1,700 million units. US-based Apple
has succeeded in taking a firm grip on the world of mobile, with its
smartphones and more recently its tablet devices.
Mobile is “Eating the World”
Projections for 2013 estimate sales of smartphones and tablets
together at 1,250 million, compared with just a quarter that number for
PCs – forecast to come in this year at 300 million units. These figures
can be explained in part by the fact that while consumers tend to
replace their computer every four or five years, they currently buy a
new mobile device every two or three years. But there has also been a
change in usage patterns. Consumers nowadays tend quite simply to prefer
mobile devices, which can be carried around easily and are designed for
personal use, as opposed to a computer, which is often shared by
several people. In addition, mobile devices are geared to the use of
apps, APIs and NFC technology, as well as providing access to the
Internet. It is also interesting to note that the level of tablet sales
is now catching up with laptops –both now boast annual sales of between
40 and 45 million units – and has already overtaken sales of office PCs
, which are struggling to reach 35 million. Benedict Evans’ bullish
conclusion that mobile is “eating the world” is therefore perhaps
justified.
Platform Wars
There is no doubt that Apple and Android (Google) are the players
that have taken the firmest foothold in the market, making it less
likely that other platforms such as Windows Phone and Blackberry will be
bale to challenge. Microsoft seems not to have been able to cope very
well with the transition to mobile. The Windows giant, which sold around
90 million connected devices in 2009, will scarcely reach 25 million in
2013, as Apple and South Korean multi Samsung stretch their lead. Of
the 120 million tablets sold in 2012, 66 million were Apple iPads and
the iPad is the tablet which is most used in all geographic zones –
across Europe, Asia and the United States. However, underlined Benedict
Evans, “the ecosystem is the key leverage point.” For Apple “the
ecosystem is what sells the hardware,” while for Amazon, Google and
Facebook, “the experience on the phone is what drives engagement with
all their services,” theEnders Analysis consultant told the New York
audience.
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