More Canadians have access to a laptop than smartphone, but that will soon change

In its latest far-reaching tech report, titled 2016 Canadian Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions, Deloitte takes a look at how will turn out for Canadian consumer tech.

On the mobile front, the multinational professional services firm expects mobile e-commerce to grow in significantly in 2016. “The number of individuals who use a third party touch-based payment service to buy something on their mobile device (smartphone or tablet) is predicted to increase 150 percent to reach over a million users in Canada,” says Deloitte. With mobile devices and software making online shopping easier than it’s ever been, the firm forecasts a decline in so-called “cart abandonment”.

Perhaps more interestingly, despite being the generation that came of age with the smartphone, Deloitte says this country’s Millennials, defined in this report as individuals aged 18 to 25, are Canada’s most pro PC generation yet. Over 25 percent of Millennials surveyed by Deloitte say they plan to purchase a PC in the next 12 months. Moreover, Canada is also one of the few places in the world where people are likely to have access to a laptop computer than smartphone — 93 percent compared to 91 percent, according to the report.

“For the majority of Canadians, our smartphones and tablets complement or enhance rather than replace the traditional products we’re used to or, only slightly alter our behaviours,” says Robert Nardi, one of the Deloitte employees behind report.

Despite the staying power of PCs, 2016 will mark the first year mobile is the leading platform for video games sales. This year, the category is predicted to account for 37 percent of total software sales, which is a 20 percent increase from 2015. However, mobile games still won’t be as lucrative as similar PC and console titles. According to the firm’s research, the average mobile game is set to make $400,000 in revenue. By contrast, the average PC and console games are set to make $2.9-million and $4.8-million, respectively.

Virtual reality, moreover, won’t have a breakout year in 2016. With global VR software sales estimated to reach $1-billion in 2016, Canada is expected to contribute less than $30-million to that number.

All told, however, with a variety of independent and large corporate-owned studios in Canada, the continued growth of the video game sales is good news; following the United States and Japan, Canada is host to the third largest games industry in the world.

Take a look at the complete report by visiting the Deloitte website.

[source]Deloitte[/source]