Given how fast technology changes and how quickly it's adopted globally, should we be surprised to hear that smartphone shipments have outpaced PCs? It's one of those things written on tech-evolution walls, isn't it?
Even if it was anticipated, and obvious, I have to say I was a bit sad reading the news... Well, perhaps, nostaglic would be a better word.
Recently, research firm Canalys.com Ltd. reported the crossover happened in 2011. Even with hyped-up tablet-type device shipments included, sexy smartphones took a noticeable lead over their rather passé computing hardware brothers. You can find all the charts and stats here, but this is the top-level take-away:
Vendors shipped 158.5 million smart phones in Q4 2011, up 57% on the 101.2 million units shipped in Q4 2010. This bumper quarter took total global shipments for the whole of 2011 to 487.7 million units, up 63% on the 299.7 million smart phones shipped throughout 2010. By comparison, the global client PC market grew 15% in 2011 to 414.6 million units, with 274% growth in pad shipments. Pads accounted for 15% of all client PC shipments in 2011.
Although 2012 may take some of the "Wow" factor out of smartphones and slow the runaway sales uptick as smartphones become more commonplace, Canalys VP Chris Jones believes this was a significant development. He said further about last year's market dynamics:
In 2011 we saw a fall in demand for netbooks, and slowing demand for notebooks and desktops as a direct result of rising interest in pads... But pads have had negligible impact on smart phone volumes and markets across the globe have seen persistent and substantial growth through 2011.
Smart phone shipments overtaking those of client PCs should be seen as a significant milestone. In the space of a few years, smart phones have grown from being a niche product segment at the high-end of the mobile phone market to becoming a truly mass-market proposition. The greater availability of smart phones at lower price points has helped tremendously, but there has been a driving trend of increasing consumer appetite for Internet browsing, content consumption and engaging with apps and services on mobile devices.
After I read the above statement, I immediately patted my laptop and said, "Don't worry, I still love you." Call me old-fashioned, but it's kind of sad to see a significant milestone like this come to pass. It's likely for the foreseeable future that many people -- myself included -- will still need and use both computing and mobile platforms and will continue to buy both tools. However, it's possible we're stepping closer to the end of the PC era. I think that deserves a moment of reflection.
I was in fifth grade in 1981 when I first laid hands on a computer keyboard. I didn't realize then what a life-changing moment it was. But, I'm grateful for the power -- and eventually, mobility -- the computer age put in my hands. It's been a good run.
That said, I guess it doesn't really matter anymore if we call the tools that make our lives run smoother and more efficiently PCs, Macs, smartphones, netbooks, or tablets. It's the technology horsepower under the hood we've all come to love.
Jenn--was I glad to read this blog! I have the same reaction as you: patting my PC and reassuring it that it is still No. 1. And I know you are younger than me. I've decided that it is not really the technology of smartphones (or anything else) that is keeping me from going all in and buying Samsung's Note. It is what I use my various devices for. I still like my full-size keyboard and 17-inch screen. Mobility and always-on communication is great, but when it comes to work, my PC still rules.
The comfort that you get when you start using your desktop is tremendous, I feel they aid us complete work fast . Whatever hi tech device I use at the end feel so awesome once I am staring at my pc.
I have the same feelings as you about the PC era, and I don't believe will see an end. The tremendous success of the tables in sales can be explained with the following phrase "The greater availability of smart phones at lower price points has helped tremendously," .
And it is very logical to have more sales of smart phones than pcs, but that fact does not mean that the end of PCs as we know it is coming ....
I agree with you Barbara, reading your comments, I felt something for Pc and I feel while it not completely over for PC, I feel we all need to give our PC a pat in the back for a job well done and how far it has brought us and even prepared us to be able to adjust and blend to the new technology with it. Considering the differences between a typewriter and a desktop, I feel the gap is wider when you compared a PC to the new mobile devices around now. PC still prepared us well and served as a solid foundation for these new devices to buld on.
While it seems a lot of devices are doing a lot of what PC can do, the device that would completely put an end to the PC era is not yet in market yet. Non of these new devices can fully perform the same tasks as PC. So lets hope for a development or a modification or an invention of something else apart from other devices we have around now that may end PC era.
I do not think there is any end to PC but these devices might take a sahpe of all-in-one ocmputers. And I strongly believe the PCs are true work horses.
A new report shows that most of the worrisome issues that the supply chain industry has been dealing with for years are not new, but there are some new concerns that need answers. Here’s a look at what keeps supply chain professionals up at night.
When it comes to shipping supplies from China to Europe, trains might be the most cost-effective way companies have available to them. DHL is looking to jump on that bandwagon.
For many dealing with the enormous task of tracking,
reporting, and resolving issues associated with
potential counterfeit parts, there is a collective
hope that 2013 will bring clearer guidance on what
needs to be done by whom and when.
A necessary foundation for moving efficiently at real-time speed, supply chain analytics is still very much at the beginning stages of development at many companies.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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