WASHINGTON: The global market for tablet computers surged 78.4 percent last year, with 128 million of the devices shipped, a survey showed yesterday.
Research firm IDC said tablets made up 10.7 percent of the global market last year for “smart connected devices,” which include smartphones, and portable and desktop PCs.
Overall, the market for these devices grew 29 percent to 1.2 billion, according to IDC, with growth in tablets and smartphones — which saw a 46 percent rise — offsetting declines in PC sales.
Although tablet sales sizzled, they have not yet eclipsed sales of traditional PCs yet, the figures showed. Some analysts say that could happen in the next year or two. IDC data showed a 3.4 percent drop in portable PC sales to 202 million and a 4.1 percent decline in desktop PC sales to 148.4 million.
These were dwarfed by the 722 million smartphones sold last year, a figure which was previously released. Smartphones and tablets are growing at a pace that PCs cannot keep up with, said IDC analyst Ryan Reith.
IDC said smartphone prices averaged $408 and are generally replaced more often than other devices. In the overall market for connected devices, Samsung rose to the top position with at least 20 percent of the market in each category, and an overall market share of 20.8 percent, overtaking last year’s leader Apple. AFP
