Published on the 18/12/2014 | Written by Beverley Head
There are just over seven billion people on the planet; on average one in three will buy a new PC, tablet or smartphone this year. Meanwhile many Australians are hanging out for the big-screen iPhone 6…
When cheap smartphones are routinely being sold at supermarket cash registers it’s pretty clear that technology has become a commodity item.
Technology analyst Gartner has forecast that 2.4 billion personal computing and communications devices will be sold by the end of the year. While sales of personal computers received a fillip because of enterprises replacing Windows XP machines, the real category winner is the smartphone.
Gartner claims that internationally 1.9 billion mobile phones are expected to be sold this year, 66 percent of which class as smartphones. By 2018 Gartner is forecasting that 88 percent of mobiles sold will be smartphones.
In Australia the penetration of smartphones is even higher. Telsyte’s just released Australian Smartphone Market Study for 2014-18 suggests that there were 16 million smartphone users in June 2014.
Put that another way, that averages out at 71 percent of the population now owning a smartphone.
Of course that’s not quite the case – there are technophiles with more than one smartphone, and technophobes or the very young who don’t have one at all.
There is, however, still a good deal of pent up demand. Telsyte estimates that among the one in five mobile phone users who still has a regular mobile phone, many will be enticed to the smartphone fold by Christmas, predicting 1.5 million more Australians will buy a smartphone by the end of the year.
Android-based devices clearly dominate the global market according to Gartner. This year 48 percent of all devices sold are expected to be Android-based with Windows and Apple machines in distant second and third positions.
When it comes to the Australian smartphone market, Telsyte claims Android and Apple make up an impressive 93 percent of the installed base.
So called “phablets” with screen sizes of 5.5 to 6.9 inches remain a niche product, although Telsyte says that may change with the much anticipated release of the large-screened iPhone 6 later this year with even rusted-on Android users considering switching to the iPhone 6 if it measures up.
While the PC market has been challenged by smartphones and tablets, Gartner’s PC report released late last week shows it’s far from dead.
After eight quarters of declining shipments – the market flattened in the second quarter of the year when 75.8 million units were sold globally – a 0.1 percent increase from the second quarter of 2013. Gartner acknowledged the challenge to PC sales that had come from tablets, but said that as these had been bought by a large number of households, slow but consistent PC growth, underpinned by business demand was forecast for the foreseeable future.
