Tablet Shipments To Outpace Total PC Shipments In Q4 2013 Says IDC

Research firm IDC has published first metrics for the worldwide smart connected device market. That market includes PCs, tablets, and smartphones. The overall market is expected to grow 27.8% in 2013 and that growth is predicted to be driven by tablet and smartphone shipments.

IDC has lowered the PC Outlook on its own by 10% during 2013. IDC is now predicting that tablet shipments will surpass total PC shipments, combining both desktop and portable PCs, in Q4 2013. Total computer shipments are still expected to be higher than the shipments tablets for all of 2013. However, that number will change significantly by 2015.

By 2015, IDC predicts that tablet shipments will surpass total PC shipments on an annual basis. Looking at shipment value the worldwide smart connected device market will post double-digit growth year-over-year of 10.6% in 2013. That growth will decline only 3.1% by 2017. That declining value is blamed on low-cost smartphones and white box tablets.

IDC also predicts that large-screen smartphones over 5 inches will begin to cannibalize the 7 to 8-inch tablet market. IDC is currently predicting that 134.4 million desktop computers will ship in 2013 along with 180.9 million portable computers. By comparison, the company is predicting 227.3 million tablets will ship in 2013.

SOURCE: IDC