If you're keeping up with the latest stats, you know that Apple (AAPL) is no longer the top seller of smartphones or tablet computers. Apple has been edged out for the top spot in both categories by Korean electronics maker Samsung (SSNLF), according to newly-released figures for all of 2012. With both companies expected to show continued strength this year, the real question is, who will be number 3?
We're not talking about crumbs for losers here. According to the report, from International Data Corp., or IDC, device shipments in 2012 totaled 722 million smart phones, a year-over-year increase of 46%, and 128 million tablets, an increase of more than 78%.
Sales of desktop PCs and laptops declined slightly in the same period. IDC points out that the comparison is not entirely fair, since mobile devices are considerably cheaper and are replaced more often.
In 2012, Chinese electronics producer Lenovo (PINK:LNGVY) was a distant No. 3, but the distinction was nothing to brag about. There are so many brands in both smartphones and tablets that the category of "Other" actually outsells Apple and Samsung combined.
So, it's by no means too late for some other device to catch the attention of fickle consumers. And just about all of them are in Barcelona this week to show off their latest at the Mobile World Congress.
Here are three new devices that are getting serious attention there, for better or worse:
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Sony's (SNE) Xperia Tablet Z is looking like an early favorite at the high end of the market. Sony has struggled for attention for so long that it's hard to remember it was once renowned for its beautiful design of everyday objects. That may have boosted the "wow" factor when it brought out the Xperia Tablet Z this week. Early reviewers are using words swiped from fashion coverage, like "svelte" and "sexy." A CNN reviewer calls it "freakishly thin and impossibly light." At 1.09 pounds and 0.27 inches thick, it is considerably lighter and skinnier than Apple's iPad.
Oddly, it's also waterproof. For what market segment? Olympic-class swimmers? Migratory Pacific salmon?
Whomever they are, the Google Android-based Xperia Z will cost them precisely the same as an Apple iPad: $499 for the 16 GB version or $599 for 32 GB.
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Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) raised eyebrows with a new tablet, the HP Slate 7, but it wasn't the specs that caused the stir. Aimed at the low end of the tablet market and priced at just $169, the Slate 7 is the kind of no-frills box that makes the tech press go "meh." That doesn't mean it won't appeal to consumers, if only because it costs $30 less than Google's own low-end Nexus 7, and Amazon's (AMZN) low-end Kindle, both priced at $199.