Worldwide demand for “smart devices” — smartphones and tablets — is expected to increase significantly in 2013.
This year 821 million smartphone and tablet will be sold worldwide. Next year, that number is expected to jump to 1.2 billion, according to analysis from Gartner, Inc., a tech research firm.
“For most businesses smartphones and tablets will not entirely replace PCs, but the ubiquity of smartphones and the increasing popularity of tablets are changing the way businesses look at their device strategies and the way consumers embrace devices,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.
Here are more projections from the Gartner on how tablets and smartphones will impact the business world:
- In 2012, businesses will purchase 13 million tablets, 53 million by 2016
- By 2016, two-thirds of the mobile workforce will own a smartphone, with 40 percent of the workforce being mobile
- Windows 8 will move to third in the tablet market in 2016, behind Apple and Android (first and second, respectively)
- In North America and Europe, 56 percent of the smartphones purchased will be Android devices in 2016, up from 34 percent in 2012.
And you think everyone’s always on their phone now?
More from Gartner here.
Photo: Flickr/bump
