MANILA, Philippines — For the first time since their re-introduction to the market, tablets will outship PCs worldwide during the last quarter of the year, signifying a continuous decline for the PC industry as consumers opt for more portable devices.
But though this is the case, PC unit shipments will remain to be larger than the tablet category for the entirety of 2013, as the latter settles with just 227.3 million units shipped around the world compared with the former’s combined unit shipments of 315.3 million for both desktop and laptop devices.
“PCs shipments are still expected to be greater than tablet shipments for the full year, but IDC forecasts tablet shipments will surpass total PC shipments on an annual basis by the end of 2015,” IDC said in a recent statement.
Though both the smartphone and tablet markets are showing early signs of saturation, IDC said it believes the introduction of lower-priced devices in more markets will be a “game changer” for both categories.
These low-cost tablet devices will spark more interest and uptake among first-time buyers in several commercial sectors around the world such as education, it added. This view is reinforced by a recent report by research firm GfK, which stressed that the “strong showing of tablet sales in early 2013 could be attributed to the decline in average pricing for most tablet models, which are now being sold at around P13,000, compared to the P24,373 average pricing recorded last year.”
GfK also pointed out that as much as P3.6 billion worth of tablet devices were sold locally during the first five months of the year, led by 7-inch tablets that have become the sweet spot for size and affordability for consumers.
“Introducing new handsets and tablet devices at cheaper price points along with special initiatives like trade-in programs from Apple and BestBuy will accelerate the upgrade cycle and expand the total addressable market overnight,” said Megha Saini, Research Analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Smart Connected Device Tracker.
Phablets eating tablets
Despite the glowing growth forecasts for the tablet segment, IDC said some form of cannibalization is in the horizon: smartphones are slowly encroaching on the space safely held by 7-inch tablets as manufacturers like Huawei, ZTE, and Samsung produce mobile devices with sizes exceeding six inches.
“The device world has seen several iterations of cannibalization impacting different categories, with the last few years focused on tablets cannibalizing PC sales,” said Bob O’Donnell, Program Vice President, Clients and Displays. “Over the next 12-18 months, however, we believe the larger smartphones, commonly called ‘phablets’, will start to eat into the smaller-size tablet market, contributing to a slower growth rate for tablets.”
Looking forward, IDC said the worldwide smart connected device space — which includes PCs, tablets, and smartphones — will continue to surge, with overall shipments surpassing 2 billion units by the end of 2015 with a market value of $735.1 billion.
In terms of device mix, total PC shipments accounted for 28.7 percent of the smart connected device market in 2012 while tablets accounted for 11.8 percent and smartphones for 59.5percent.
By 2017, total PCs are expected to drop their share to 13 percent, while tablets and smartphones will contribute 16.5 percent and 70.5 percent respectively to the overall market. The shift in demand from the more expensive PC category to more reasonably priced smartphones and tablets will drive the average selling price (ASP) for the collective market from $462 in 2012 to $323 in 2017, IDC added.
source: interaksyon.com
