Mobile phones now claim the largest segment of the overall device market on a global scale, Gartner presents in its latest research published late last week.
Worldwide combined shipments of devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) are projected to reach 2.5 billion units in 2014, a 6.9 percent increase from 2013.
Device shipments grew 4.8 percent in 2013.
“Sales of traditional PCs will continue to hamper the overall growth of devices, and substitution from PC to tablet will decline,” the report reads.
“While the lack of compelling hardware innovation marginally extended replacement cycles in 2013, we’ve witnessed an upgrade path in the emerging markets. Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Asia/Pacific and Eastern Europe have all upgraded their phones, which will help to compensate for mature market weakness in the near term,” said Annette Zimmermann, principal research analyst at Gartner.
Mobile phones aside, tablets are no small segment of this fast-growing connected device market either.
In 2014, the worldwide tablet market is forecast to grow 38.6 percent as overall adoption continues to grow faster in markets outside North America.
