Smartphone and tablet users could outnumber users of personal computers by the year 2015, according to tech experts. More Canadians are buying PCs today, but that’s about to change.
“Tablets have been growing much faster than PCs in recent years,” says Carmi Levy, an independent technology analyst and journalist based in London, Ontario. “We have data that shows that by the end of the year those two are going to switch places.”
“Suddenly everyone wants one”
Tablets are relatively new having come out three years ago when Apple introduced the iPad. “Suddenly everyone wants one,” says Levy. “They realize that to do some of the quick things that you do on line– you quickly check your e-mail, check the weather, get some directions and then leave the house—you don’t need a full PC, you don’t need to wait three minutes for it to boot. You just want a machine that does those easy tasks cheaply and the tablet does that.”
Many Canadians are starting to leave their laptops when they go to work for the day or they go on a trip or take a vacation. “They realize that they’re not writing War and Peace. They don’t need a full computer to do huge amounts of work. They just need a tablet to get the everyday stuff done and they don’t want to carry around five or six pounds of computer to do that. Much easier to slip a tablet into your bag and off you go.”
“Consumers…are much more mobile”
Consumers are starting to be much more mobile, says Levy. “They value portability, they value cost. They don’t want to spend a lot of money on something. They want it to be simple and they don’t want to have to wait. When they press that on button it has to be available right now.”
84 million tablets are expected to be shipped around the world in the fourth quarter (October, November and December) of 2013. At the same time an expected 1.4 billion smartphones are expected to be shipped. There are more smartphones on earth now than there are people, notes Levy.
Bigger smartphones, smaller tablets coming
People are looking for larger smartphones with more capabilities and new, affordable technology is making that possible. At the same time companies are makings smaller tablets. So-called fablets may become the new “hot” item.
Smartphones still outsell everything by a margin of 10 to one and the trend is likely to continue, predicts Levy, noting that they are becoming faster with more capabilities and more apps. He says people will not leave behind the PC, but they won’t be buying new ones every two years and spending $1,500 to $2,000 as they do now.
Technology no longer the domain of the geek
“I think what’s interesting here is we’re seeing the democratization of technology,” says Levy noting that in the past computers appealed mostly to people who knew how to use them, “people who were experts in coaxing them to get what they wanted done.” Tablets and smartphones are much easier to use for everyone.
“This is a great example of how technology is no longer the domain of the geek or the nerd. It’s the domain of all of us and it’s a global phenomenon,” says Levy.
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