According to the global research firm Garner, the increasing popularity of the lower-priced tablets is outpacing PCs and as a result PC market comprising notebooks and desk-based units is expected to decline by 7.6 per cent in 2013.
Carolina Milanesi, research vice-president, Gartner, says, ?While there will be some individuals who retain both a personal PC and a tablet, especially those who use either or both for work and play, most will be satisfied with the experience they get from a tablet as their main computing device.?
Milanesi adds, ?As consumers shift their time away from their PC to tablets and smartphones, they will no longer see their PC as a device that they need to replace on a regular basis.?
Further, encouraging demand for ultramobiles will help offset the decline in demand for the PCs to some extent. Despite the growth in the market for ultramobiles the combined sales of traditional PCs and ultramobiles is expected to decline by 3.5 per cent in 2013.
Gartner predicts that, the combined shipments of PCs, tablets and mobile phones, worldwide will reach 2.4 billion units in 2013, registering an increase of 9 per cent over 2012.
Currently, Android continues to be the dominant operating system (OS) in the device market, supported by strong growth in the smartphone market. Apple?s iOS/Mac OS and Microsoft Windows are vying for the second position in the OS market.
Further, smartphones are also becoming more affordable, driving adoption in emerging markets and the prepaid segment in mature markets. Gartner estimates that out of the total 1.875 billion mobile phones to be sold in 2013, 1 billion units will be smartphones, as against 675 million units of smartphones sold in 2012.
