While the PC market has rebounded a bit this year, a new Gartner report predicts tablets will beat out traditional PCs in 2015.
After dipping by roughly 9.5 percent in sales during 2013, the global PC market was projected to shrink just 2.9 percent this year. Overall, Gartner predicts combined shipments of devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) will reach 2.4 billion units worldwide in 2014, a 4.2 percent increase from 2013, and will carry that momentum through 2015.
Gartner projected desktops and laptops to see approximately 276 million units moved in 2014 and 261 million in 2015, while it projected roughly 256 million tablets to be sold in 2014 and 320 million to be purchased by consumers in 2015. The market for PCs isn't projected to fade into obscurity, but the firm's reports suggests users who don't require a computer for daily use will turn to tablets and smartphones to fill the traditional roles of desktop and laptop computers.
After Microsoft gave up on supporting Windows XP, a long-time favorite of the enterprise world, Ranjit Atwal, Gartner's research director, stated his belief that the 2014 PC market would begin to pull back from its sharp, downward trajectory.
"Business upgrades from Windows XP and the general business replacement cycle will lessen the downward trend, especially in Western Europe," said Atwal. "This year, we anticipate nearly 60 million professional PC replacements in mature markets."
Gartner expected the ascent of the tablet market to slow in 2014, though the research firm still projected tablet sales in 2014 to best 2013's figures by approximately 23.9 percent. The tablet market matured beyond the early adoption phase at the time of Gartner's report as phablets, oversized smartphones, have bitten into the market for tablets. Gartner believes it will take the gradual fall of tablet prices to finally attract the masses of late adopters.
The research firm states it expects the smartphone market to move from its share of 66 percent of the global market for cell phones to 88 percent between 2014 and 2018.
The flourishing market for smartphones and the power of mobile operating systems have helped users stay connected to the world without the need for traditional computers. Annette Zimmermann, research director at Gartner, suspects that larger displays offered by front-runners will only push the market into further growth.
"We expect the announcement of the new Apple iPhone 6 will attract pent-up demand for users who want a larger screen," said Zimmermann. "Windows phones will exhibit strong growth from a low base in 2014, and are projected to reach a 10 percent market share by 2018 -- up from 4 percent in 2014."
