Smartphone and tablet sales grow, as PCs decline

The worldwide tablet market is set to grow by almost half over the coming 12 months, as PC sales continue to fall, according to new research.

The study, from Gartner, indicates that the global tablet market is set to increase by some 47 per cent during 2014, as falling average prices encourage a whole new demographic to buy a device.
Simultaneously, the sales of traditional PCs is also set to decline, with figures set to fall by around seven per cent.
Whilst tablet sales will increase and PCs will decline, mobiles are set to remain the biggest tech in terms of units sold. Gartner claimed that sales of smartphones will rise by around five per cent this year, meaning that a total of 278 million units will be shipped – or 60 phones every single second.
Gartner’s report, which took in responses from the UK, US, China, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, should provide valuable insight not just to tech firms but marketers as well. With traditional PCs being usurped by smartphones and tablets, the need to correlate content and design with these varying screen sizes is set to become yet more pronounced.
Research director at Gartner, Ranjt Atwal, explained how the device market is continuing to evolve, with buyers now deciding which combination of devices is required to meet their wants and needs, as opposed to individuals.
“Mobile phones are a must-have and will continue to grow, but at a slower pace, with opportunities moving away from the top-end premium devices to mid-end basic products,” he added.
“Meanwhile, users continue to move away from the traditional PC as it becomes more of a shared content creation tool, while the greater flexibility of tablets, hybrids and lighter notebooks address users’ increasingly different demands.”