According to market research firm Canalys, worldwide smartphone shipments for the first time exceeded PC shipments (including tablets or pads as Canalys calls them) in 2011. While smartphone shipments grew to 487.7 million (up 63% over the previous year), the PC market grew 15% to 414.6 million units with tablets accounting for 15% of shipments.
“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,” said Chris Jones, Canalys VP and Principal Analyst. “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.”
Canalys expects smartphone shipment growth to slow in 2012 as manufacturers focus more on profitability and fewer models. As already confirmed by companies such as HTC and Motorola, 2012 will see more emphasis on flagship models.
The top five smartphone platforms are Android (237.8 million and up 244.1% year-over-year), iOS (93.1 million and up 96% year-over-year), Symbian (80.1 million but down 29.1% year-over-year), BlackBerry (51.4 million and up 5% year-over-year) and bada (13.2 million and up 183.1% year-over-year). Windows Phone fell out of the top five although it could reappear in 2012 with Windows Phone 7.5.
Read more: Canalys