Global shipments of PCs, tablets, and smartphones to exceed 2.35 bn in 2018

According to the new report by research firm Gartner, global shipments of PCs, tablets, and smartphones are predicted to exceed 2.35 billion units in 2018, an increase of 2.0 percent from 2017.

The misconception persists that the world has gone mobile and relies solely on smartphones. "However, our latest online end-user surve shows that users depend just as much on PCs or tablets as they do on smartphones," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

Forty percent 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.

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," Atwal added. Driven by faster Windows 10 replacement in many regions, especially in western Europe, business PC shipments are projected see growth by the end of 2017. "Despite the fact that prices have been rising due to higher component costs, Windows 10 replacements have kept the PC market relatively stable through 2017.

We estimate that the PC market (desk-based, notebook and ultramobile) is set to return to 0.8 percent growth in 2018," said Atwal. With shipments totaling 1.9 billion units, mobile phone sales are expected to return to YoY growth in 2018. Smartphones will represent 86 percent of total mobile phone shipments in 2018, up 6 percent from 2017.

Meanwhile, mobile phone sales are expected to return to year-over-year growth in 2018, with shipments totaling 1.9 billion units. Smartphones will represent 86 percent of total mobile phone shipments in 2018, up 6 percent from 2017.

"Given the late November availability of the iPhone X, we expect the iPhone's replacement cycle to flow more strongly into 2018," said Roberta Cozza, Research Director at Gartner added.