With technological advancements on the rise, consumers are perennially inundated with new smartphone, tablet, and computer launches. These devices are increasingly infiltrating day-to-day life. Research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for smart devices from 2012 to 2016 will be 14 percent.

The research firm expects that smartphones and tablets will be the major contributors to this shipment growth. In Q2 2012, nearly 267.3 million tablet, smartphone, and PC units were shipped, which is a 27.4 percent increase from a year ago and a 2.8 percent increase from last quarter. Smartphones currently account for nearly 59 percent of smart connected device shipments and are projected to grow by nearly 15.8 percent annually. Smartphone shipments are expected to reach 63 percent of smart device shipments by 2016.

The firm anticipates that tablets will see the quickest growth from 10 percent in 2012 to 13 percent by 2016. This rise would impact PC shipment, leading to a reduction in share from 31 percent in 2012 to 24 percent in 2016.

However, the projected data is not reflective of shipments in the U.S. market. Unit shipments for Q2 2012 fell 7.8 percent from last quarter and 5 percent annually to less than 47.4 million units in the U.S. The total revenue dropped to $24.8 billion, a 10.3 percent and 8.6 percent sequential and annual drop, respectively.

"In the U.S. market, it's clear that not only PCs but smart connected devices as a whole are facing a difficult time as both unit shipments and revenues declined on both a year-over-year and a quarter-over-quarter basis," stated the IDC report.

The firm averred that the demand for tablets and smartphones in the U.S. has started slowing down due to the macroeconomic conditions, as well as market saturation.

However, IDC notes that the potential for global growth exists as consumers are increasingly carrying more than one connected device. Carriers too are in step with this emerging trend and have introduced new shared data plans that can be used across multiple connected devices.

"The recent shipment data clearly demonstrates that we have fully entered into the multi-device era, where individuals are buying and using multiple devices per person, most often with different combinations of operating systems. The implications of this development on application developers, device makers, Web service providers, businesses, and even individuals is profound," said Bob O'Donnell, program VP for Clients and Displays.

IDC also estimates that smart device shipments will touch 1.2 billion units in 2012, up 27.4 percent from 2011. The figure will likely increase to 1.4 billion device shipments in 2013 and will surpass 2 billion units by 2016.