IDC: Samsung Moves Past Apple In Smart Devices

Samsung surged ahead of Apple last year to become the largest maker of smart connect devices—PCs, portable PCs, tablets and smartphones, according to new data from IDC. The South Korean manufacturer shipped 250 million units across the four device categories in 2012, up 119% from 2011, giving it a 20.8% share.

Apple increased unit shipments 44% to 218.7 million, for an 18.2% share, followed by Lenovo, which shipped 78.3 million devices, for a 6.5% share. Rounding out the top five, HP shipments fell 8.5% to 58.2 million, reducing its share to 4.8%, while Dell shipments dropped almost 13% to 38.8, for a 3.2% share.

Tablets and smartphones accounted for all the growth among smart connected devices. Tablet shipments were up 78.4% while smartphones grew 46.1%, but accounted for 60% of devices shipped last year. By contrast, PCs and portable PCs declined 4.1% and 3.4%, respectively. Smart device shipments rose 29% overall in 2012 to 1.2 billion.

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