In our mobile age, are laptops obsolete?

It's no big secret, technology is a fast-paced industry that continues to make great strides in development, coming up with amazing devices or capabilities as time marches forward. Any time a new device, or upgrade to an existing tech, is released, its successor is pretty much already in development. 

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Growth of mobile

Over the years, laptops have become incredibly useful as a portable computing device. But with the adoption of mobile, are laptops starting to become obsolete? While laptops still serve a valid and valuable purpose, over time there became a high probability mobile phone and tablets will replace laptops. Mobile sales increased exponentially and continue to rise. CNN reported way back in 2010:

"Around the world, smartphones are gaining ground fast. But they're not yet the norm. New statistics from Gartner, looked at recent sales of new phones. In the third quarter of 2010, 417 million new handsets were sold - up 35 percent from third quarter 2009."

Fast forward to October 2014 and there were officially more mobile devices than humans on the planet. Jump ahead a little more to today and mobile devices are still expected to grow exponentially but the laptop (and PC) aren't dead yet. In fact, Financial Times reported last year the market was expected to see a bump.

Laptops aren't obsolete - yet

Despite the incredible growth of super portable tech, laptops are probably not going to be obsolete - at least not yet. But has tech gets faster and more compact, will these "dinosaurs" begin to lose relevance? Smartphones are getting larger indicating people want bigger gadgets they work on. In 2014, along with mobile phones, wearable devices were steadily trying to penetrate the tech market and showing some success. Since then, wearables have been steadily making strides - it's anticipated the number of wearables will exceed a whopping 929 million by 2021. Consider the devices other beginning to perform some of the same functions desktops and laptops have done for years.

It's all about accessibility and connectivity and many mobile devices can easily meet this need. Today's gadgets even look like small computers with keyboard attachments and web access. Not to mention, touch screens have become the norm. It's been clear for a while now many businesses and web developers must make their sites compatible with mobile to remain viable. Even the mighty Google has been emphasizing this for some time. These are clear indicators as to where the future of computing lies.

What does this mean for the laptop?

While laptops may not disappear in the very near future, as a portable device, chances are over time the handy laptop will be replaced by other more efficient devices that are easily carried and able to perform all of the same functions. Perhaps something we're not even seeing yet. Although, if the industry can succeed in giving laptops all the features consumers are becoming used to (detachable screen, touch screen, etc.), which they seem to be doing, they may just survive. Perhaps even becoming more versatile than other, smaller mobile devices. Many manufacturers are trying to secure the future of laptops, blending the traditional experience with newer features.

What do you think? Are laptops out or will they be around for decades to come? What do you use for work when you are at home or on the go?