Smartphones, Tablets, Ultrabooks to Make Splash at CES: Canalys

A
report from IT analytics firm Canalys predicted the key themes likely coming
out of the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this
week, anticipating that Intel’s ultrabook category will capture most of the
mobile product announcements, with up to 50 new devices expected. Tablet
devices are expected to take a back seat to ultrabooks at this year’s show, as
most of the tablets shown last year either failed commercially or did not even
launch.

“Ultrabooks
show some much needed, and long overdue, innovation in the notebook market and
will pose a new threat to premium pads,” said Canalys analyst Tim Coulling.
“With increased battery life and portability, the continued development of the ultrabook
will bring some of the features that consumers love about pads to the notebook
space.”

The
drive toward ever more mobile computing is a trend that can be seen throughout
the world. Canalys estimates that from the beginning of 2010 to the end of
October 2011, nearly 54 million tablets shipped and, by the end of last year,
over 772 million smartphones were in use around the world. Smartphones will
further encroach on basic and feature phone shipments in 2012, especially in
growth markets such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and, more recently,
Africa, the report projected.

“The
two leading tablet vendors in the U.S. market in Q4 2011, Apple and Amazon,
won’t be present, but we expect many refreshes of devices shown last year,”
said Coulling. “Tablet sales are currently concentrated in mature markets,
where many consumers will continue to add tablets to their collections of
electronics products in 2012. We expect to see plenty of demonstrations of how
the tablet can interact with other products, especially in the living room—the
new tablet battleground.”

Canalys
principal analyst Pete Cunningham noted there is an appetite for smartphones
among the young connected populations in these potentially massive markets.
“Most vendors will wait until Mobile World Congress 2012 in February to reveal
new smartphones; CES will therefore give some welcome attention and headlines
to Microsoft and Nokia,” he said.

In
addition, the influx of smartphones and tablets into the market creates a new
challenge for consumers and device vendors alike. Canalys Vice President and Principal
Analyst Chris Jones explained that consumers want their content safe and backed
up, while being able to access it from any device—whatever the platform or
operating system—and they want to be able to extend that access to selected other
people as well.

“At
last year’s CES, we saw the trend toward content distribution and content
access across multiple screens—phone, pad, notebook/desktop, TV, car, etc.—start
to build,” he said. “We not only expect much more development in these areas at
this year’s show, but also an increase in multiple mobile and personal cloud
solutions from traditional and new players to help consumers organize and
secure their content.”