Smartphone sales surpass PC in 2011

A report in from Canalys shows that global shipments of smartphones in 2011 surpassed PC sales for the first time ever. Sales of smartphones totaled 487.7 million units which PC sales were 414 million. The PC category included desktop, laptop and tablet computers.

These figures are huge, because shipments of smartphones increased 63% from the 300 million sold in 2010. The PC market also recorded healthy growth of 15%, but this is the first time that phone sales have surpassed PC sales. Market analysts suggest that the reason is down to smartphone prices dropping, with many budget, quality phones now available.

Apple sold 93.1 million iPhones in 2011, marking a 96% increase over 2010. This positioned Apple in front of Nokia for the first time. As we reported before, Apple also sold 5.2 million Macintosh computers and 15.4 million iPads – more than any other PC vendor in 2011.

Android is going from strength to strength, claiming 48.8% of devices shipped in 2011. Apple's iOS claimed second spot with 19.1%. Symbian claimed 16.4% and BlackBerry only 10.5%.

Kitguru says: Apple may be in second position, but it is worth pointing out that no single Android maker matched Apple for sales.

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