Sales of mobile phones are expected to reach 1.9 billion units in 2014, a 3.1 percent increase from 2013, according to Gartner.
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 percent in 2014.
As has been the case for years now, Android and iOS continue to be the leading operating systems, with a 30 percent and 15 percent increase, respectively, in 2014.
“We expect the announcement of the new Apple iPhone 6 will attract pent-up demand for users who want a larger screen,” said Annette Zimmermann, research director at Gartner. “Windows phones will exhibit strong growth from a low base in 2014, and are projected to reach a 10 percent market share by 2018 — up from 4 percent in 2014.
Overall global device shipments, including PCs, tablet and mobile phones, are projected to reach 2.4 billion units this year, a 4.2 percent increase over last year.
According to the latest numbers from Gartner, mobile phones, particularly smarpthones will continut to grow, while tablet sales will slow to 256 Million Units in 2014.
Gartners said that as the tablet market moves into the “late adopter” phase, sales will see a relative slowdown in 2014 to reach 256 million units, an increase of 23.9 percent from 2013. A shift towards “phablets” is also weighing on the tablet market, Gartner said.
“The next wave of adoption will be driven by lower price points rather than superior functionality,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner, in a statement.
Atwal said that 2014 will be marked by a relative revival of the global PC market.
After declining 9.5 percent in 2013, the global PC market (desk-based, notebook and premium ultramobile) is on pace to contract only 2.9 percent in 2014.
Atwal said that business upgrades from Windows XP and the general business replacement cycle will lessen the downward trend on PCs, especially in Western Europe.
“This year, we anticipate nearly 60 million professional PC replacements in mature markets.” The traditional PC market (desk-based and notebook) will follow the same downward trend and is on pace to contract 6.7 percent in 2014 and 5.3 percent in 2015.
Filed Under: Devices
