Every article on device sales shows mobile device sales going through the roof and PC sales declining. Does that mean that people have stopped buying computers? Not from what we've seen. Gartner estimates say there were about 325 million (PC and Macs) sold in 2013. That is more than one computer for each person in the U.S.
The mobile device that seems to be affecting the PC sales the most is the tablet. Not everyone has a tablet... yet! According to Pew Research, as of September 2013... 42% of adults have a tablet device vs. 76% of adults that own or have access to a computer. The word is out that a tablet is a pretty nice thing to have. So from 2012 to 2013, tablet sales jumped 58%. Our bet is you will continue to see high sales numbers on tablets until it hits about 76% (the penetration of PC's). It may go a little higher because the device is cheaper than a computer and some people will try to switch to a tablet altogether. We don't feel that it will be possible for most people to dump the PC if they still use their computer for work. A well phrased comment, "the tablet is for viewing and the computer is for doing" applies.
How high can mobile technology numbers go?
The Pew numbers on adult cellphone ownership is currently at 91%. Of those, 55% are smartphones. It looks like the U.S. is in the middle of a massive technology upgrade and adoption boom. Upgrading from cellphones to smartphones and adding a tablet. The end result, in the near future, most people will end up with all 3 devices: A computer, smartphone and tablet.
As for usage, if they own all these devices, they will use them all depending on the purpose. That being said, which device they prefer to use to surf the web appears to be changing depending on the time of the day. We are seeing web surfing via a computer dropping off in the evening. We are seeing increasing smartphone traffic during the day. And we are seeing increasing tablet usage in the evenings when people are accessing social media and/or watching TV. Theory is they are using the tablet while sitting on the couch.
What does this mean for businesses?
To the business owner, what all this means is you need to prepare your website to handle all 3 types of device traffic well. They have different screen sizes. You want your web presence to look good no matter what device your visitor is using to access it. There are many ways to go about making your website mobile friendly. The right choice depends on your website and type of business. One of the newer website trends is something called "responsive design". To see what responsive design is, see our latest blog post on the topic.
Sales & Marketing Technologies is Central Florida's most established Digital marketing and web development company. We strive to unlock your potential to thrive online. Could a responsive website be your business's answer for these mobile trends? Contact us today.