Worldwide Shipments of Smartphone, Tablet, and PC Devices Projected to Increase By 5.9% in 2013

Worldwide shipments of smartphone, tablet and PC devices are projected to reach 2.35 billion units in 2013, a 5.9% increase from 2012, according to Gartner.

Worldwide traditional PC (desk-based and notebook) shipments are forecast to total 305 million units in 2013, a 10.6 percent decline from 2012 , while the PC market including ultramobiles is forecast to decline 7.3 percent in 2013 (see Table 1). Tablet shipments are expected to grow 67.9 percent, with shipments reaching 202 million units, while the mobile phone market will grow 4.3 percent, with volume of more than 1.8 billion units. The sharp decline in PC sales recorded in the first quarter was the result in a change in preferences in consumers’ wants and needs, but also an adjustment in the channel to make room for new products hitting the market in the second half of 2013.

Notably, the report says that many consumers are going from premium tablets to basic tablets which is expected to increase the share of basic tablets faster than anticipated. For example, the iPad mini already reprsented 60% of overall iOS sales in the first quarter of 2013.


“The increased availability of lower priced basic tablets, plus the value add shifting to software rather than hardware will result in the lifetimes of premium tablets extending as they remain active in the household for longer. We will also see consumer preferences split between basic tablets and ultramobile devices,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. “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 Apple's sales are spread out across all device segments while 90% of Android sales are mobile phones and 85% of Microsoft sales are PCs.

Take a look at the charts below for more details...

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