Wonders of technology

Smartphones, or mobile phones that allow one not only to make phone calls and send text messages but also to send and receive e-mail and to browse the Internet as well as to use other applications that used to be available only on on a computer because they are built on a mobile operating system, have finally done it.

According to the International Data Corp. or IDC, more smartphones are forecast to be shipped globally than feature phones or your usual mobile phones in  2013, the first such occurrence in the mobile phone market on an annual basis.

According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors will ship 918.6 million smartphones this year, or 50.1 percent of the total mobile phone shipments worldwide.

IDC attributes this to three factors mainly. Smartphone prices have fallen globally, the smartphone strata are wider than ever, and the roll-out of data-centric fourth-generation (4G) wireless networks, all of which have made these “do-it-all” devices an increasingly attractive option for users, it said.

By the end of 2017, IDC forecasts 1.5 billion smartphones will be shipped worldwide, which equates to just over two-thirds of the total mobile phone forecast for the year due to these primary factors.

To date, much of the world’s smartphone shipments were a direct result of demand in mature economies such as the US. The balance of smartphone demand is gradually shifting, however, to emerging markets such as Asia-Pacific where smartphone user bases are still relatively small and economic prospects are considerably higher, IDC pointed out.

IDC also said that China will easily remain the world’s largest market for smartphones, specifically low-cost handsets based on the Android operating system and to a lesser degree iOS. While shipment volume to the country will remain at the top, growth will slow towards the end of the forecast period. Also, smartphone prices are expected to fall amid increased competition. Consequently, China’s share of the global smartphone market will be diluted somewhat as more smartphones are shipped to India, Brazil, and other emerging markets.

Now that smartphone users constitute the majority of all mobile phone users in the United States, IDC expects slower growth in the years ahead. Underpinning its growth is the constantly shifting operating system landscape, in which resurgent BlackBerry and Windows Phone aim to gain salience against incumbents Android and Apple iOS, it added.

This increasing need for mobile access to the Internet is also the reason why users are dumping personal computers in favor of tablets.

IDC in another report revealed that despite intense industry efforts to overcome market inertia, 2012 nonetheless ended on a sour note with global PC shipment volume shrinking 3.7 percenr on the year.

With limited initial traction from Windows 8 in the holiday season, and continued pressure from tablets, IDC now expects 2013 PC shipments to decline by 1.3 percent in 2013.

Disappointing holiday sales, an underwhelming reception to Windows 8, and continuing economic malaise that further crimped IT budgets marked the face of the market during the second half of 2012, leading to a year-on-year decline of 8.3

percent in fourth quarter shipments, the most substantial decline recorded for a holiday quarter, IDC reported.

Furthermore, emerging market growth potential is declining and coming closer to that of mature regions. 2012 marked the first year that emerging markets have seen a volume decline, and while 2013 will return to growth, it is projected at less than one percent and with modest, single-digit growth through 2017. For mature regions, 2013 will mark the third consecutive year of volume declines. IDC continues to expect limited growth in 2014 and 2015 with contracting volume in later years.

According to Loren Loverde, Program Vice President, Worldwide PC Trackers at IDC, the PC market is still looking for updated models to gain traction and demonstrate sufficient appeal to drive growth in a very competitive market. She adds that growth in emerging regions including Asia Pacific has slowed considerably, and they continue to see constrained PC demand as buyers favor other devices for their mobility and convenience features. “We still don’t see tablets (with limited local storage, file system, lesser focus on traditional productivity, etc.) as functional competitors to PCs – but they are winning consumer dollars with mobility and consumer appeal nevertheless,” she noted.

Here in the Philippines, you see telecommunications providers Smart, Globe, and Sun Cellular offering free smart phones and tablets to encourage customers to use mobile data more. This is expected since most Filipino tweens, teens and adults are already texting and making mobile voice calls using mostly feature phones and to create new sources of revenues, telcos have to entice them to search the Internet, log on to Facebook,  among others, on their smartphones or tablets.

It’s been more than a decade since I last visited Sagada and the thing that struck me the most is the fact that almost all lodging houses, restaurants and bars, big or small, offer free Wi-fi access. So if you have your smartphone, tablet, or laptop with you, it doesnt seem like you are miles away from the city.

For comments, email at [email protected].