Tablets set to triumph in 2015

Researchers at Gartner have predicted that global tablet sales will overtake PC sales for the first time next year, reaching more than 320 million units compared to 316 million PC units.

The prediction comes despite a “relative revival of the global PC market” in 2014, according to Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

“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.” 

He also pointed to a corresponding “relative slowdown” in growth of the tablet market later this year, despite reaching 256 million units, an increase of 23.9 per cent from 2013. This is due to lower demand for small-screen tablets in mature markets and the shift towards phablets in South-East Asia. Atwal claimed: “The next wave of adoption will be driven by lower price points rather than superior functionality.”

Gartner also predicted that mobile phone sales will reach 1.9 billion units in 2014, a 3.1 per cent increase from 2013. Sales of smartphones, which exceeded those of the rest of the market in 2013, will continue to do well, and Gartner estimates that smartphone sales will represent 88 percent of global mobile phone sales by 2018 — up from 66 per cent in 2014.

In the operating system (OS) market, Android and iOS are driving the growth with a 30 per cent and 15 per cent increase, respectively, in 2014.

Annette Zimmermann, research director at Gartner, commented: “We expect the announcement of the new Apple iPhone 6 will attract pent-up demand for users who want a larger screen. Windows phones will exhibit strong growth from a low base in 2014, and are projected to reach a 10 per cent market share by 2018 — up from 4 per cent in 2014.”