Device shipments set to show no growth in 2017
Worldwide device shipments are expected to remain flat in 2017 amid stagnating demand and market saturation, Gartner projects.
The research firm expects total device shipments across all device categories — PCs, ultramobiles, tablets and mobile phones — to remain at 2.32 billion units.
“The global devices market is stagnating. Mobile phone shipments are only growing in emerging Asia/Pacific markets, and the PC market is just reaching the bottom of its decline,” Gartner Research Director Ranjit Atwal said.
“As well as declining shipment growth for traditional devices, average selling prices are also beginning to stagnate because of market saturation and a slower rate of innovation. Consumers have fewer reasons to upgrade or buy traditional devices.”
Another factor behind the stagnating growth is cannibalisation from new devices in emerging categories including VR, virtual personal assistants and wearables, he said.
In response to the tight market, device vendors are increasingly trying to move into faster growing emerging categories, Atwal said. But this will require a shift from a hardware-focused approach to a richer value-added service approach, which will necessitate partnerships with service providers.
The device market is expected to pick up somewhat in 2018, with the struggling PC market benefiting from a replacement cycle and finally returning to growth.
But spending will continue to shift from traditional PC sales to premium ultramobile devices such as laptop-tablet hybrids.
Gartner also estimates that there were nearly 7 billion mobile phones, tablets and PCs in use worldwide by the end of 2016.
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