Market Analysis

IDC's final report on PC shipments in EMEA in Q3 showed the overal shipments were down 16%, reaching 21.4 million units. Portable PC shipments equaled 13.3 million units, declining 20.6%, while desktop PC shipments hit 8 million units, down 7% compared with the same quarter a year ago.

Mobile analyst firm Juniper Research estimates that the number of smartphone shipments exceeded a quarterly record of 250 million in Q3 2013, representing a y-o-y growth of almost 49% from Q3 2012, and q-o-q growth of 10%.

Organisations across the healthcare value chain are realising the potential of embedding machine-to-machine (M2M) technology into mobile health solutions. Mobile network operators (MNOs) have already begun exploring this opportunity, developing M2M-enabled solutions for various applications including remote patient monitoring, medical asset tracking, and healthcare workflow organisation.

Preliminary research by Ovum shows that 90 per cent of organisations are at risk of becoming irrelevant to their customers unless they can learn to adapt much faster and in ways that customers value. While CRM systems are prevalent, businesses are being held back by slow decision cycles, a lack of workforce engagement, operational and channel silos and a serendipitous attitude toward innovation.

EMEA PC sales fell in the third quarter by nearly 10% yr/yr, in line with IDC forecasts, the analyst says. PC shipments remained constrained particularly in the home segment, which continued to suffer from weak consumer demand amid an ongoing budget shift to tablets.

Tablets are ever more prevalent in the workplace, and while they are not usually a replacement for a desktop or laptop their capabilities provide opportunities for organisations to update and change their business processes, according to global analyst firm Ovum.

Inertia and complacency towards new technology is simply not an option for any organisation, according to Capgemini Consulting which (in partnership with MIT Sloan Management Review) conducted a global survey into Digital Transformation.

Global mobile value added service (VAS) revenues are set to grow at a slow pace between 2013 and 2018, with a CAGR of 10 per cent, according to global analyst firm Ovum. In a recent market forecast, Ovum found that the increase in global mobile VAS revenues would be driven mainly by the African and Asia-Pacific markets.