Smartphones have been bypassed by PC shipments

Last year, manufacturers shipped 488 million smartphones and “only” 415 million personal computers.

Moreover, in the fourth quarter alone, shipments of advanced phones totaled 158.8 million, according to Canalys. This is 57% more than in the fourth quarter of 2010. It was thanks to the “shock” shipments in the “Christmas” quarter that the annual increase was 63%. Recall that in 2010, 299.7 million devices were delivered to world markets.

For comparison, in 2011, the personal computer market grew by 15% over the year. Moreover, it grew only thanks to the crazy growth (274% per annum) in the supply of tablets (which are now commonly referred to as PCs). If it were not for tablets, the annual results for the supply of personal computers would be negative. 

By the way, slightly less than half of the smartphones shipped over the year run on the Android operating system. For the iPhone, a little more than one fifth of the market. 

Also interesting: the annual growth of bada devices amounted to 183.1%, but shipments of smartphones based on Windows Phone fell by almost half compared to 2010.