El Segundo, Calif.
– Rising demand for multifunction CE devices such as smartphones and media
tablets will be responsible for the long-term unit-sales decline of single-task
consumer electronics devices such as MP3/video players, portable navigation
devices (PNDs) and flat sales of digital still cameras,
forecasts.
Worldwide unit shipments of smartphones and
media tablets will rise at compound annual growth rates of 28.5 percent and
72.1 percent, respectively, between 2010 and 2015, but shipments of PNDs and
MP3/video players will decline during those years, and digital camera shipments
will flatten out and then fall in 2015. (See table.)
“The success of multipurpose electronic
equipment, often coming at the expense of devices dedicated to a single task,
is reshaping the landscape of the consumer electronics industry,” said analyst Jordan
Selburn. “In many cases, users can replace a slew of dedicated systems with
just one multipurpose device, gaining functionality and portability while
simultaneously saving money.”
Media tablets only compound the woes for
single-purpise devices, he adds. “Media tablets, predominantly the Apple iPad
at present, are truly a jack of all trades-and master of most,” Selburn said. Although
not directly acting as a replacement for pocket-sized equipment, the media
tablet “increasingly will play an expanding range of roles for consumers,
acting as an e-book reader, music and video player, browser, calendar, alarm
clock, gaming platform, PND and camera all in one box,” IHS iSuppli continued.
Shipments of media
tablets will rise to 262.1 million units in 2015, up from 17.4 million in 2010.
Smartphone shipments will increase to more than 1 billion units in 2015 from
294.3 million in 2010. In contrast, MP3/video shipments will fall to 126.8
million units in 2015, declining at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
negative 6.8 percent from 180.1 million in 2010. That followed an MP3/video player
CAGR of 38.7 percent between 2004 and 2009, IHS iSuppli said.
In the PND market, unit shipments will
decline to 37.2 million in 2015 for a CAGR of negative 2.2 percent, from 41.5
million in 2010. In contrast, PNDs enjoyed an 88.9 percent CAGR from 2004 to
2009.
