INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Mobile Technology
especially in Western Europe. “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,”
said Atwal. “We estimate that the PC
market (desk-based, notebook and
ultramobiles) is set to return to 0.8%
growth in 2018.”
This upward trend is assisted by two
factors. The PC market in Russia has
been positively influenced by an upturn
in the country’s economic prospects,
which has seen business spending
on PCs increase by 5% in 2017. This
growth will persist into 2018. Spending
is primarily focused on desktop PCs,
which are more aggressively priced than
mobile PCs or hybrid devices.
The second factor is China, where
the move to Windows 10 has been
delayed due to security and privacy
issues, leading to slow PC sales in 2017.
However, Microsoft is now working with a
Chinese government agency to develop
a government-approved version.
Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner
Gartner says
worldwide device
shipments will
increase 2% in 2018
W
orldwide shipments of PCs,
tablets and smartphones
are predicted to exceed 2.35
billion units in 2018, an increase of
2% from 2017, according to Gartner.
This would be the highest year-over-
year growth since 2015. Gartner says
the misconception persists that the
world has gone mobile and relies solely
on smartphones. “However, our latest
online end-user survey shows that users
depend just as much on PCs or tablets
as they do on smartphones,” said Ranjit
Atwal, research director at Gartner.
“40% of respondents said that they
use mostly a PC/tablet for certain daily
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INTELLIGENTCIO
experiences, such as reading and writing
detailed emails or watching videos,
while 34% 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.”
Traditional PC shipments are forecast
to decline 4.4% in 2018 while mobile
phone shipments are expected to
increase 2.4%. Business PC shipments
are estimated to return to growth by the
end of 2017, driven by faster Windows
10 replacement in many regions,
“The features of Windows 10 could
be particularly useful for the Chinese
Government that is looking to move from
desktops and notebooks to ultramobile
premium devices,” said Atwal. “We expect
this development to positively impact the
PC market in 2018.”
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% of
total mobile phone shipments in 2018,
up 6% from 2017.
Gartner expects Apple’s iPhone X to
be the sales driver in North America,
China and Western Europe, despite its
high price.
“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.
Component shortages could lead to the
inability to meet smartphone demand
in the fourth quarter of 2017, further
favouring unit sales moving into 2018. n
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