The research firm expects shipments of PCs, laptops, tablets and mobile phones to reach 2.40 billion this year, down from 2.42 billion last year. Laptop users are even less inclined, with 54% “intending to opt for an alternative device”.
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Tablet shipments are also dropping, on pace to reach 192 million units in 2015, representing a decline of 13% from 2014. That, according to a Gartner report, didn’t happen. It appears that declining unit sales is not something that only PC manufacturers are experiencing as the latest Gartner forecast indicates that all device manufacturers are facing the same plight.
Ultra-mobile shipments will dip 12 percent to 199 million units in 2015.
The PC market has continued to struggle over the past few months, and Gartner has revealed that the PC shipment market is expected to total 291 million units in 2015, a decline of 7.3 per cent year-on-year.
The new forecast is also down from the company’s prediction in the previous quarter, which saw a 1.5 percent increase over 2014 for the segment comprising PCs, tablets, phones and ultramobiles. Microsoft Windows 10 products on the Intel Skylake platform will increase in volumes throughout the year, while Windows 10 adoption among businesses will ramp sharply in 2017, where PC market will return to a 4 percent growth.
“Smartphones are the essential computing device and very personal, unlike PCs of the past, which are often used by more than one person”, said Tuong Nguyen, a Gartner analyst, in an interview.
One of Windows 10’s key priorities was to make the desktop more familiar for PC users, as Windows 8 removed some of the features that made it easier for those with a mouse and keyboard to work on their devices.
Still, the latest smartphones are not being replaced as quickly as they were three to five years ago.
The increase in the period of time for using a smartphone has led Apple to implement an Upgrade Program to allow customers to buy iPhones on an installment plan, something that Samsung is expected to emulate, Entner said.
The reason? A number of factors. Tablets are not looking fly, either.
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Still, leasing plans and other inducements by device makers might not encourage buyers to exchange phones more quickly, unless the newest devices have more than incremental improvements, Nguyen said.
