Given the profound importance of smartphone adoption to the expansive and effectiveness of mobile marketing, the latest data from Gartner is all but certainly good news for mobile marketers.
Gartner says worldwide devices (the combined shipments of PCs, tablets and mobile phones) are projected to reach 2.35 billion units in 2013, a 5.9 percent increase from 2012.
The market, however, is being overwhelmingly driven by sales in tablets, smartphones, and to a lesser extent, ultramobiles, as PC shipments are on the decline.
Tablet shipments are expected to grow 67.9 percent, with shipments reaching 202 million units, while the mobile phone market will grow 4.3 percent, with volume of more than 1.8 billion units. The sharp decline in PC sales recorded in the first quarter was the result in a change in preferences in consumers’ wants and needs, but also an adjustment in the channel to make room for new products hitting the market in the second half of 2013.
“Consumers want anytime-anywhere computing that allows them to consume and create content with ease, but also share and access that content from a different portfolio of products. Mobility is paramount in both mature and emerging markets,” says Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.