Second-screen devices combined with customized content, interactive apps, and loyalty programs will fuel the behavior of social TV consumers over the next 24 months.
A predicted surge of smaller, lower-priced devices in the tablet market has led research firm IDC to increase its 2013 forecast for the worldwide tablet market to 190.9 million, up from its previous forecast of 172.4 million units.
The consumer market declined 32 percent quarter-on-quarter in 4Q 2012 with 208,000 units recorded. Windows 8 failed to boost PC shipments as anticipated prior to its launch.
Despite intense industry efforts to overcome market inertia, 2012 nonetheless ended on a sour note with global PC shipment volume shrinking 3.7% on the year.
In the fourth quarter of 2012, worldwide server shipments declined 0.2 percent year-on-year, while revenue increased 5.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011.
The expected steady increase in mobile traffic is partly due to continued strong growth in the number of mobile Internet connections (personal devices and machine-to-machine applications), which will exceed the world?s population (United Nations estimates 7.6 billion).
IT spending remained broadly strong throughout a difficult end to 2012 as business confidence waned in the shadow of the "fiscal cliff?," economic growth declined in much of Europe, and economies in Asia struggled to cope with reduced exports.
