Chris Dragan's Corner

Last month Samsung sold more smartphones than any other manufacturer. Apple is #2 and Nokia is #3. The predictions of some analysts last year that Android will take over are becoming true while Google is trying to make Android a more solid platform and fix some mistakes they’ve made.

It’s interesting to observe the battle between Apple and Google, with multiple hardware vendors involved on the Google side, while other well established cell phone and smartphone manufacturers begin to struggle.

But where is it all going? It looks like in the coming years small mobile devices will replace PCs. We will no longer be chained to a desk. We won’t need to carry around a bulky laptop. Instead we will be carrying a small touchscreen device. Take a look at some designs like the ones from Motorola, where you can take the smartphone and plug it into a bigger device. Your pocket device will become your universal personal computer. You will plug it into a dock, or just connect a monitor. You can do it today with some tablets. Most devices also already support Bluetooth keyboards. Android also supports a mouse. Future designs will simply become more convenient to use.

Mobile devices become more and more versatile. You can write and print documents using both mobile apps and online office suites, you can take, upload and edit photos – some online tools like Picasa provide basic, but easy to use photo editing capabilities, you can browse the Internet, watch movies, listen to music, play games – do most common tasks on a small device which fits in your pocket.

PCs will remain a niche for specialized uses, which require sophisticated software and high hardware specs. Because of that they will become more expensive, which will force even more users to stick with smaller devices.

This does not bode well for existing monopolies.