According to IDC, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) are driving holiday sales this quarter.
No surprise here, the quarterly report for Worldwide Connected Smart Devices, which was released on Monday, indicates that Apple and Samsung are leading.
The combined number of total shipments for personal computers, tablets, and smartphones increased 27.1 % from last year’s third quarter. This means that a total of $140.4 billion worth of 303.6 million devices were sold. Many of these sales can be attributed to smartphones and tablets.
IDC predicts that we will see more of this throughout the 4th quarter. It’s predicted that we will see a 55.8 % growth in tablet sales and 39.5% growth in smartphone sales during the 4th quarter. PC sales are expected to decrease.
The same report also shows the significance of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) in the market. Samsung remained top dog with 21.8% of market shares, a number based on shipments, and Apple came in at number two.
Ryan Reith from IDC says, “The battle between Samsung and Apple at the top of the smart connected device space is stronger than ever. Both vendors compete at the top of the tablet and smartphone markets. However, the difference in their collective ASPs [average selling price] is a telling sign of different market approaches. The fact that Apple’s ASP is $310 higher than Samsung’s, with just over 20 million fewer shipments in the quarter speaks volumes about the premium product line that Apple sells.”
IDC also shared the predictions for the next four years. It’s expected that smartphones will grow 95.9% from 2012 to 2016 and tablets will grow 131.2%. These numbers show significant growth in mobile devices and that’s a good thing for companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94).
These results also give us a small glimpse as what to expect in the near future of technology. As people rely less on traditional computers and more on mobile devices, the tech market will have to grow and adapt to such changes.
