(Image source: ZDNet)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

Are you watching this video on your phone? There’s a better-than-average chance, according to new market research. For the first time ever, smartphones are selling better than computers.

Market tracker Canalys reports growth in the mobile market has outstripped the appetite for computers. Vendors shipped more than 480 million smartphones last year, 73 million more than PCs.

And this was even after giving the PC market a 63-million-unit edge. Business Insider says the iPad and devices like it counted as full computers.

“Unlike some other research firms, Canalys counts tablets as PCs. If you took tablets out of the mix, only 93.7 million personal computers were sold.”

Forbes says the trend means our interaction with the Internet is changing.

“It’s yet another important step on the road from isolated, search-oriented computing to a more social, mobile, and inter-connected web.”

But according to CNET, how far we get down that road depends on smartphone manufacturers.

“...Canalys warns that the global smartphone party may not continue apace in 2012, with more makers looking to move into selling more higher-end and profitable phones rather than focusing on volume and conquering the lower end of the market.”

And, as PCWorld points out, the traditional computer isn’t going anywhere for a while, no matter how powerful our smartphones get.

“Would today's smartphone make a suitable replacement for your laptop or desktop? Probably not. If you work in an office, for instance, and spend most your day buried in spreadsheets, documents, and presentations -- the phone-as-PC concept doesn't cut it.”

Maybe tablets will fill that role. Canalys reports that market saw 274 percent growth over last year.