The mobile universe of smart connected devices, consisting of PCs, tablets, and smartphones, has expanded with shipments of over 916 million units and revenues of more than $489 billion dollars during 2011.   

This according to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC’s) combined total from its Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, Mobile Phone Tracker, and Media Tablet Tracker. The IDC stated that global shipments for smart connected devices should amount to around 1.1 billion this year. By 2016, the research firm predicts that shipments will reach 1.84 billion units, more than doubling the 2011 figure.

Dominant platform shift

In terms of platforms, the IDC expects a shift to occur between 2011 and 2016. This involves the once-dominant Windows on x86 platform, consisting of PCs operating on Microsoft’s Windows desktop operating system (OS) on any x86-compatible CPU, being reduced from a leading 35.9% share in 2011 to 25.1% in 2016.

According to the IDC, the number of Android-based mobile devices running on ARM CPUs, will increase from a 29.4% share in 2011 to a market-leading 31.1% share in 2016. Also on the rise will be iOS-based devices, as the IDC expects their share to grow from 14.6% in 2011 to 17.3% in 2016.

“Android’s growth is tied directly to the propagation of lower-priced devices,” said Tom Mainelli, research director of Mobile Connected Devices at IDC.

“So, while we expect dozens of hardware vendors to own some share in the Android market, many will find profitability difficult to sustain. Similarly, we expect a large percentage of application developers to continue to focus their efforts on iOS, despite the platform’s smaller overall market share, because iOS end users have proven more willing to pay for high-quality apps.”