According to Gartner, worldwide PC, tablets and mobile phone shipments will reach 2.4 billion units in 2013, a 9% increase from 2012.
Gartner expects device shipments will to continue to grow and reach over 2.9 billion units in 2017, but the mix of these devices will significantly change over the forecast period.
By 2017, Android will have the most share with 1.47 billion while Windows will be in second place with 571 million followed by iOS/MacOS with 504 million.
The research firm said that the proliferation of lower-priced tablets and their growing capability is accelerating the shift from PCs to tablets.
Gartner research vice president Carolina Milanesi said while there will be some individuals who retain both a personal PC and a tablet, especially those who use either or both for work and play, most will be satisfied with the experience they get from a tablet as their main computing device.
"As consumers shift their time away from their PC to tablets and smartphones, they will no longer see their PC as a device that they need to replace on a regular basis," Milanesi said.
However, sales of the traditional PC market of notebooks and desk-based units are expected to decline 7.6% in 2013, as consumers shift to tablets and other devices.
Gartner said ultramobiles will help offset the decline, so that sales of traditional PCs and ultramobiles combined show a 3.5% decline in 2013.
Worldwide tablet shipments are expected to reach 197 million units in 2013, a 69.8% increase from 2012 shipments of 116 million units.
Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal said lower prices, form factor variety, cloud update and consumers’ addiction to apps will be the key drivers in the tablet market.
"Growth in the tablet segment will not be limited to mature markets alone. Users in emerging markets who are looking for a companion to their mobile phone will increasingly choose a tablet as their first computing device and not a PC," Atwal said.
Total PC shipments for 2013 are expected to reach 315 million units, compared to 341 million in 2012.
According to Gartner, ultramobiles will account for 23.6 million in 2013, compared to 9.8 million in 2012.
Meanwhile, smartphones are also expected to continue to gain share in the overall mobile phone market.
Of the 1.875 billion mobile phones expected to be sold in 2013, 1 billion units will be smartphones, compared with 675 million units shipped in 2012.
Milanesi said the trend towards smartphones and tablets will have much wider implications than hardware displacement. "Software and chipset architecture are also impacted by this shift as consumers embrace apps and personal cloud," she said.
