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The fine gents at IDC recently crunched some numbers and concluded that smartphone growth is poised to remain strong through 2019, chipping away at the PCs dwindling market-share. In just a few years from now, our pocket computers will reportedly make up 77.8% of the total smart connected device (SCD) shipments.

The IDC report says that the combined total market of connected devices – smartphones, tablets & 2-in-1s, and and PCs – is set to balloon from 1.8 billion units in 2014 to 2.5 billion units in 2019. Smartphones for their part will grow to represent the majority of total smart connected device (SCD) shipments by quite a margin, according to the metrics firm.

By 2019, IDC expects the distribution to be as follows:

• 77.8% smartphones
• 11.6% PCs (both desktop and laptops)
• 10.7% tablets

Tom Mainelli, Program Vice President for Devices at IDC, said “ultimately, for more people in more places, the smartphone is the clear choice in terms of owning one connected device.” While the claim does the numbers justice, I’d also like to probe a different reality. Say you’re marooned on an island, somehow there’s Internet there, and you have a choice between a big screen and a small one. With commuting and society out of the way, would you still prefer a smartphone over a desktop/laptop computer as an Internet machine?

Personally I appreciate screen real estate far more than portability. But I’m not a smartphone zombie, so you could say I’m biased. For some people, aspects like battery life, processing power and other stuff can make a world of difference. So how about yourself? What boat are you in? Sound off in the comments.