184 Million Plus Tablets to be Sold By Christmas

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A new report by Gartner indicates that tablet shipments are expected to grow 53.4 percent this year, with shipments reaching 184 million units before end of the year.

These, according to Gartner will be due to the fact that premium tablets are set to cut prices in 7-inch range as more consumers prefer smaller form factors than present. The market is being driven by a shift to lower-priced devices in nearly all device categories.

PC shipments however will decline 8.4 Percent in 2013 putting the woldwide combined shipments of both PCs, tablets and mobile phones at 2.32 billion units in 2013,  a 4.5 percent increase from 2012, according to Gartner, Inc.

“Worldwide shipments of traditional PCs (desk-based and notebook) are forecast to total 303 million units in 2013, an 11.2 percent decline from 2012, and the PC market, including ultramobiles, is forecast to decline 8.4 percent in 2013. Mobile phone shipments are projected to grow 3.7 percent, with volume of more than 1.8 billion units,” said the report.

Earlier, Gartner found that smaller is better when it comes to consumer tablets. The survey done in Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., the U.S. and Japan showed that the average screen sizes of the tablets in use were between 8.3 inches to 9.5 inches.  Forty-seven percent of the 21,500 consumers surveyed owned a tablet that was 8 inches or less.

“While consumers will be bombarded with ads for the new ultramobile devices, we expect their attention to be grabbed but not necessarily their money,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. “Continuing on the trend we saw last year, we expect this holiday season to be all about smaller tablets as even the long-term holiday favorite — the smartphone — loses its appeal.

Gartner also adds that there is opportunity for hybrid ultramobile to marry the functionality of a PC and the form factor of the tablet. For work and play users will find it easier to carry one device that can do both.

“Users who are not limited by their disposable income will likely have a basic tablet as a companion device to their ultramobile on which most of their consumption activities will take place,” Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

In the mobile phone market the opportunity for high average selling price smartphones is now ending and growth is expected to come from mid-tier smartphones in mature markets and low-end Android smartphones in emerging markets.

Below is the table on global device shipments by segment

Device Type

2012

2013

2014

PC (Desk-Based and Notebook)

341,273

303,100

281,568

Ultramobile

9,787

18,598

39,896

Tablet

120,203

184,431

263,229

Mobile Phone

1,746,177

1,810,304

1,905,030

Total

2,217,440

2,316,433

2,489,723

Source: Gartner (October 2013)

Image:pcadvisor.co.uk

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