Canalys has posted their Q4 2011 global smartphone research report and it appears that for the first time, ever, smartphones have outshipped PCs.
158.5 million smartphones were shipped during the quarter, for a total of 488 million on the year. The figure was a huge 63 percent jump from the 300 million shipped in 2010. PCs, on the other hand, only saw a 15 percent bump to 414.6 million units, including tablets like the iPad.
Says Canalys: “In 2011 we saw a fall in demand for netbooks, and slowing demand for notebooks and desktops as a direct result of rising interest in pads. But pads have had negligible impact on smartphone volumes and markets across the globe have seen persistent and substantial growth through 2011. Smartphone shipments overtaking those of client PCs should be seen as a significant milestone.
In the space of a few years, smartphones have grown from being a niche product segment at the high-end of the mobile phone market to becoming a truly mass-market proposition. The greater availability of smartphones at lower price points has helped tremendously, but there has been a driving trend of increasing consumer appetite for Internet browsing, content consumption and engaging with apps and services on mobile devices.”
Apple was the top smartphone and PC vendor during the quarter, selling 37 million iPhones, 15 million iPads and just over 5 million Macs. Altogether, the company shipped 93.1 million iPhones during the year, barely beating out Samsung who also finished strong and ended with 91.9 million smartphones shipped for the year.
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Result for: netbooks
Despite their note that Chrome OS would not be available on any hardware in 2010, the search giant has said today that the operating system may still launch next month, in a limited software beta.
The company would “not go into details” on when or in what condition the operating system will launch, but it does confirm a public release is scheduled for this year.
Bugs in the software have dwindled, and a pre-release build is in the works.
The operating system will work on all PCs and tablets, but is designed to run best on netbooks.
Google Chrome OS should see a full release in the Q1 2011.
For a more in-depth look into Chrome OS, check our earlier article: Google Chrome OS
Result for: netbooks
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has explained what will differentiate their Android OS from their upcoming Chrome OS, saying mainly that Chrome OS was created for devices that have full keyboards, whereas Android is better for touchscreen devices.
Chrome OS will soon be available on PCs, notebooks and netbooks, which will always include full keyboards, even if they have touchscreen interfaces.
Android, on the other hand, is best suited for smartphones and (eventually) tablets, which may sometimes have keyboards, but will always have a touchscreen.
When asked about Android fragmentation, Schmidt noted that he wants to make sure that in the future, the same apps can be run on all Android devices, no matter what version or what device.
Android 2.3 Gingerbread is expected in the coming weeks while Chrome OS is expected by January.
