“Smart connected devices” will grow increasingly mainstream by...

"Smart connected devices” will grow increasingly mainstream by 2018, when 43.3 percent of new shipments globally will be priced under $200, compared with 32.7 percent in 2013, IDC said in a report (http://bit.ly/1vQ2HTV). Included in those shipments are desktop and laptop PCs, tablets and 2-in-1s, but predominantly smartphones, said the industry research firm Tuesday. The high end will take a hit as the share of total shipments priced above $500 falls to 21.1 percent in 2018 from 33 percent in 2013, it said. The smartphone installed base is quickly approaching 2 billion units, and vendors are “scrambling” to find the next 2 billion users in emerging markets like Brazil, China and India, it said. By comparison, sales in “mature” markets like the U.S. and Western Europe are slowing to single-digit annual percentage growth rates “as the installed base swells,” it said. Still, IDC estimated that by 2018, six smartphones will ship for every PC.