The global tablet market remains strong IDC reports-- Q1 2013 shipments grow by 142.4% Y-o-Y to 49.2 million units, with demand for smaller screen devices fueling shipments.

Apple outperforms earlier IDC projections for the quarter, managing to beat seasonal Q1 shipment drop off (following strong Q4 sales) with shipments reaching 19.5m units compared to a forecast of 18.7m.

"Sustained demand for the iPad mini and increasingly strong commercial shipments led to a better-than expected Q1 2012 for Apple," IDC says. "In addition, by moving the iPad launch to Q4 2012 Apple seems to have avoided the typical Q1 slowdown that traditionally occurred when consumers held off buying in January and February in anticipation of a new product launch in March."

IDC reports a mobile market first for Q1 2013-- smartphones beat feature phones in global shipment totals, making 51.6% (or 216.2 million units) of total shipments for the quarter. 

Overall the global mobile market shows 4% Y-o-Y growth in a seasonally slow Q1 2013, with shipments reaching 418.6m units-- up from 402.4m units in Q1 2012 but down from 483.2m in Q4 2012. 

"Phone users want computers in their pockets." IDC states. "The days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away... The balance of smartphone power has shifted to phone makers that are most dependent on smartphones."

ABI Research believes in the "strong potential" of the smartwatch-- according to the analyst changing consumer perceptions will lead to smartwatch shipments of over 1.2 million units for 2013 alone.

“The strong potential emergence of smartwatches can be attributed to several reasons,” ABI says. “Contributing factors include the high penetration of smartphones in many world markets, the wide availability and low cost of MEMS sensors, energy efficient connectivity technologies such as Bluetooth 4.0, and a flourishing app ecosystem.”

One can divide wearables in 4 categories-- notification types, voice operational smartwatches, hybrid smart watches and completely independent smartwatches.

Notification type devices include the MetaWatch and Cookoo smartwatches, providing alerts of the incoming call and message variety.

Global device (PCs, tablets and mobile phones) shipments are set to total 2.4 billion in 2013 before reaching over 2.9 billion by 2017 Gartner reports, even if the device mix will see changes during the period.

Consumer preference to lower-priced tablets, coupled with growing capability, accelerates the shift away from PCs-- traditional desktop and notebook PC shipments are to drop by -7.9% during 2013, although ultramobile shipments should offset the decline to -3.5% when combined.

"While there will be some individuals who retain both a personal PC and a tablet, especially those who use either or both for work and play, most will be satisfied with the experience they get from a tablet as their main computing device," the analyst says. "As consumers shift their time away from their PC to tablets and smartphones, they will no longer see their PC as a device that they need to replace on a regular basis."