By 2017, worldwide shipments are expected to drop further to 110.8 million units, lower than the previous forecast of 113.6 million units, as the adoption of mobile devices at lower price points is expected to continue.
The rest is spent on communication such as sending emails and visiting social media sites; production activities, such as editing videos and writing blogs; and finding information, including checking the news and weather and researching products and services.
While Apple did not address the low end of the market with its announcement, the iPhone 5c represents a major departure from its previous product strategy, which could improve the company's competitiveness.
The worldwide smart connected device market, comprised of PCs, tablets, and smartphones, is forecast to grow 27.8% year-over-year in 2013, while the PC outlook has been lowered by 10% in 2013.
Following Samsung?s introduction of the first flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products this year, demand for these elastic displays is expected to grow by more than a factor of four next year, with sales reaching nearly $100 million in 2014.