Tablet shipments to rise by 67%, PC decline to continue: Gartner

Shipments of tablet computers will continue to rise in the year 2013, while sales of traditional personal computers will continue to decline, reports technology research firm Gartner.

The firms said that the combined shipments of PCs, tablets and mobile phones are projected to reach 2.35 billion units across the world in 2013, which is a 5.9 percent increase from 2012. The report notes that the market is driven by sales of tablets and smartphones, while PC shipments are on the decline.

Worldwide traditional PC (desk-based and notebook) shipments are forecast to total 305 million units in 2013, which is a 10.6 percent decline from 2012. Tablet shipments, on the other hand are expected to grow at a rate of 67.9 percent and will reach 202 million units. The mobile market will grow at the rate of 4.3 percent, with a volume of more than 1.8 billion units.

“Consumers want anytime-anywhere computing that allows them to consume and create content with ease, but also share and access that content from a different portfolio of products. Mobility is paramount in both mature and emerging markets,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.

Demand for ultramobiles (which includes Chromebooks, thin and light clamshell designs, and slate and hybrid devices running Windows 8) will come from upgrades of both notebooks and premium tablets, such as the Apple iPad or Galaxy Tab 10.1. Analysts said ultramobile devices are gaining in attractiveness and drawing demand away from other devices.

Interestingly the report also notes that the smartphone and tablet market could be headed towards stagnation.

Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner, said, “With mobile phones, volume expectations for 2013 have been brought down as the life cycles lengthen as consumers wait for new models and lower prices to hit the market in the Fall and holiday season. The challenge in the smartphone market is also that, as penetration moves more and more to the mass market, price points are lowering and in most cases so do margins.”

The report also notes that basic 7-inch tablets like the iPad mini will increase their market share. The report notes that sales of the iPad Mini already represented 60 percent of overall iOS sales in the first quarter of 2013.