Worldwide combined shipments of devices (PCs, tablets and mobile phones) are projected to reach 232 crore units in 2013, a 4.5 per cent increase from 2012. According to Gartner, the market is being driven by a shift to lower-priced devices in nearly all device categories.

Global PC (notebooks and desktops) shipments are forecast to total 30.30 crore units in 2013, an 11.2 per cent decline from 2012, and the PC market, including ultramobiles, is forecast to decline 8.4 per cent in 2013.

Mobile phone shipments are projected to grow 3.7 per cent, with volume of more than 180 crore units.

Tablet shipments are expected to grow 53.4 per cent this year, with shipments reaching 18.40 crore units. "Premium tablets are faced with continued price decline in the 7-inch form factor as a larger number of consumers prefer smaller form factors when it comes to content consumption," said the market research firm.

Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, said, "Continuing on the trend we saw last year, we expect this holiday season to be all about smaller tablets as even the long-term holiday favourite—the smartphone—loses its appeal."  

"Although the preference is for dedicated devices, we see the opportunity for hybrid ultramobile to marry the functionality of a PC and the form factor of the tablet," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "Users who are not limited by their disposable income will likely have a basic tablet as a companion device to their ultramobile on which most of their consumption activities will take place."

The mobile phone market will continue to experience steady growth, but the opportunity for high average selling price (ASP) smartphones is now ending. Growth is expected to come from mid-tier smartphones in mature markets and low-end Android smartphones in emerging markets.

Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia doesn't have a major impact on the forecast, because Gartner already assumed that Nokia would have accounted for the vast majority of Windows Phone share throughout the forecast, with only minimal volume coming from other OEMs, such as HTC or Samsung.

The end of Windows XP support in 2014 isn't expected to impact device sales, as Gartner says 90 per cent of large enterprises have either migrated or are migrating to Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Android will remain the leading device operating system (OS), as it is on pace to account for 38 per cent of shipments in 2013. The Windows OS is projected to decline 4.3 per cent in 2013 as a result of the decline in traditional PC sales, but will return to growth in 2014 with device OS shipments increasing 9.7 per cent.

Top technology providers see wearable devices as an important market opportunity; however, Gartner expects that wearable devices will primarily remain a companion to mobile phones. Less than 1 per cent of consumers will actually replace their mobile phones with a combination of a wearable device and a tablet by 2017.

By: DocMemory
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