THE GUARDIAN, Wednesday, April 10 2013
COMPULIFE 27
PC, tablet, mobile phone shipments hit 2.4 billion units Stories By Adeyemi Adepetun ORLDWIDE devices (the combined shipments of PCs, tablets W and mobile phones) are expected to hit 2.4 billion units in 2013, a nine per cent increase from 2012, according to Gartner. Gartner projected that device shipments are to continue to grow; reaching more than 2.9 billion units in 2017, but the mix of these devices will significantly change over the forecast period. Indeed, Gartner noted that the proliferation of lower-priced tablets and their growing capability is accelerating the shift from PCs to tablets. According to Gartner’s Research Vice President, Carolina Milanesi, “While there will be some individuals who retain both a personal PC and a tablet, especially those who use either or both for work and play, most will be satisfied with the experience they get from a tablet as their main computing device. “As consumers shift their time away from their PC to tablets and smartphones, they will no longer see their PC as a device that they need to replace on a regular basis.” The result informed that the traditional PC market of notebooks and desk-based units is expected to decline 7.6 per cent in 2013. This is not a temporary trend induced by a more austere economic environment; it is a reflection of a long-term change in user behavior. Beginning in 2013, ultramobiles will help offset this decline, so that sales of traditional PCs and ultramobiles combined show a 3.5 percent decline in 2013. The report further said that worldwide tablet shipments are forecast to total 197 million units in 2013, a 69.8 per cent increase from 2012 shipments of 116 million units. “Lower prices, form factor variety, cloud update and consumers’ addiction to apps will be the key drivers in the tablet market.
“Growth in the tablet segment will not be limited to mature markets alone. Users in emerging markets who are looking for a companion to their mobile phone will increasingly choose a tablet as their first computing device and not a PC”, said Research Director at Gartner, Ranjit Atwal. In the shares of operating systems (OSs) in device sales, the shift to mobile and the fight for the third ecosystem becomes more evident. Android continues to be the dominant OS in the device market, buoyed by strong growth in the smartphone market. Competition for the second spot will be between Apple’s iOS/Mac OS and Microsoft Windows. Tablets are not the only device type that is seeing aggressive
price erosion. Smartphones are also becoming more affordable, driving adoption in emerging markets and the prepay segment in mature markets. Of the 1.875 billion mobile phones to be sold in 2013, one billion units will be smartphones, compared with 675 million units in 2012. “The trend towards smartphones and tablets will have much wider implications than hardware displacement. “Software and chipset architecture are also impacted by this shift as consumers embrace apps and personal cloud”, said MiA tablet lanesi.
Computer Society floats N500 million Lagos ICT park CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 he said infrastructure providers could also get easy access because there would be a wide but similar demand for a particular infrastructure or a set of infrastructure. Aladekomo added, “For instance, operators need a lot of bandwidth, power, water, hotel facility, and that is what we are trying to do. “It is going to be a national one, but it is a private initiative by NCS. It is like we are starting from Lagos. The same can also be created in some other states. We are only taking the bull by the horn. There is no way you can manufacture everything in Lagos.” Explaining why Lagos was considered first, the NCS president said a lot of IT companies were situated in Lagos, which had made Lagos the hub of IT business. “What we are doing right now is different from what the Ministry of Communications Technology is planning. Development should be multithronged, multi-disciplinary; and we will like to align our-
MTN assures subscribers of its readiness for number porting He disclosed that a series of tests had been successfully carried out on the company’s systems and infrastructure without any hitch. “We are excited that customers who wish to join the MTN Nigeria has again expressed its readiness to imnetwork with the most coverage of Nigeria will now plement number porting in consonance with the be able to do so without worrying about losing their policy of the industry regulator. mobile numbers. As you know, we have made far The NCC last month shifted the date to April in order to get the process ready and avoid any unfore- more investment in our network than any other operator in Nigeria has done, with the result that we are seen challenges when it eventually kicked off in the today the clear leader with effective network coverage country. of more than 85 percent of Nigeria’s land mass and Speaking at an internal stakeholder forum, MTN’s population. Corporate Services Executive, Akinwale Goodluck, “We have nearly 100 per cent coverage of most major said the company has put systems in place to make MNP a reality for mobile phone users in Nigeria who highways in Nigeria and we are gradually moving towards the final laps of a massive, nationwide network are eager to join the country’s most expansive netmodernisation and swap-out exercise that is bound work. “We have made all the necessary investment in infra- to give the network unequalled capacity and much structure and manpower to make MNP a reality. We improved quality of service in the near future. We have no doubt in our minds that mobile phone users are confident that at the commencement date, we on other networks in Nigeria will be eager to port into will be absolutely ready”, Goodluck said. HEAD of the planned commencement of mobile A number portability (MNP) in Nigeria, as stated by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),
MTN to avail themselves of these and other benefits they can only find on the MTN network,” he said. Apart from its massive investment in its core services, Goodluck said the firm was the first operator to create a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) vehicle, MTN Foundation, to implement life-impacting social projects across the length and breadth of Nigeria, Goodluck said. He added that the company through MTNF had invested over N5 billion in such social projects, which have directly and indirectly impacted millions of lives in the areas of health, education and economic empowerment. The MTN Foundation is known internationally as a credible benchmark of project driven, sustainable corporate social investments in Nigeria. He affirmed the company’s commitment to continue to seek for ways of adding value to the lives of Nigerians both through the company’s core services and corporate social investment initiatives.
selves with what the minister is doing. It is just that we have a need and we need to address issues immediately,” he said. Aladekomo said Nigeria needed to have multiple IT parks to support national development, while adding that its intention was borne out of the fact that NCS members required something urgently. “There are great people in government, but sometimes bureaucracy makes the whole thing to take a while. We can align our intentions. If we establish this park in Lagos, the minister will know there is one in Lagos; the minister can build more in other parts of the country. So, we can align our intensions,” he said. The NCS president explained that the IT park, which infrastructural process should start this year, would boost local content in the IT industry and save the country foreign exchange, he noted. He said, “It will limit foreign control of our economy. We want to create jobs; how do we do that when we are missing out? We missed out in the telecoms revolution and we are gradually missing out in the cashless policy. The wealth of any nation depends on how successful the country is inventing things. “We need venture funds for people who have ideas but do not have the finances to realise their visions. We need this to encourage invention. This can be achieved by governments, private persons and businesses with big pockets and are willing to take risks.” If the process leading to the establishment of the park must succeed, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, SystemSpecs, an indigenous software developer, Mr. John Obaro, said there was need to create markets for locally developed technologies.