Smartphones + Tablets >PC's

At home or in the air, consumers prefer mobile devices.

People like to have access to information while on the move. This becomes apparent when you consider the latest data from Gartner. The more convenient the information is, the better. While sales of PC's are very substantial, they are declining overall, whereas sales of ultrabooks (ultra-thin notebooks), smartphones, and especially tablets continue to grow. In fact, tablet sales are increasing at an incredible rate. Gartner reports that in 2012, over 340 million PC's shipped, versus 116 million tablets. Jump ahead to 2017 and Gartner projects that PC shipments will have dropped to about 272 million, while tablet sales will have soared to about 468 million units. Undoubtedly, there are many implications to this change. What started out as a trickle of tablet users will continue to be the fastest-growing device over the next handful of years. People will expect information in a clean, crisp format on their mobile devices. Working within mobile-based operating systems such as Android and iOS may very well cut into the lead enjoyed for years by the PC-based Windows operating system. Add the introduction of lower-cost mini-tablets such as the iPad Mini and these tablets should continue to grow strongly for the foreseeable future.

---