CE Device Sales To Jump 2% Next Year, Highest Yearly Growth Since 2015

Gartner’s latest research has revealed global shipments of PCs, tablets and smartphones are set to exceed 2.35 billion units in 2018 – notably a jump of 2% from 2017, and the largest year-on-year growth since 2015.

The research firm’s latest research debunks perception that PCs/tablets will soon become irrelevant, as the world gravitates to increased mobile and smartphone use.

Ranjit Atwal, Research Director at Gartner, states:

“Our latest online end-user survey shows that users depend just as much on PCs or tablets as they do on smartphones”

“Forty percent of respondents said that they use mostly a PC/tablet for certain daily experiences, such as reading and writing detailed emails or watching videos, while 34 percent mostly use a smartphone for its convenience while on the move”.

Mr Atwal did, however, allude to potential risk factors impeding PC sales growth:

“Users holding onto their PCs for longer remains a major issue for the PC market. In contrast, users continue to replace their smartphone quite frequently”.

Overall, traditional PC shipments are expected to drop  4.4% in 2018, while mobile phone shipments are expected to jump 2.4%.

Smartphone sales are forecast to exceed 1.6 billion units in 2018.