Staggering numbers from Jonathan Yarmis’ interview on TechTicker today:
PC market
- 200M units shipped per year
- sales growth of 9-11% year-over-year
Now compare that to:
Mobile market
- 1.6B units shipped last year
- sales growth of 20% year-over-year
- average device life-cycle of 21 months which means the device install base is completely cycled every 2 years
The strong growth hasn’t translated into bottom line profits for mobile incumbents. In fact, most mobile manufacturers have been hammered (see NOK and MOT) due to tough price competition and reliance on volume over innovation. The PC industry has similarly suffered from commodification (see DELL, HPQ).
But these figures are still interesting. The excitement over Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry may have temporarily inflated the companies’ values in recent months, but the illustrated growing demand for more capable devices will eventually contribute heavily to any company that makes a real effort here. Points or share price are currently being awarded to companies like RIMM and APPL who are forward-looking and anticipating the upgrade in mobile networks and user needs in the not too distant future.
But you already saw that, didn’t you?
The full video if you are so inclined:
