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"Research firm Gartner is predicting that 2015 will be the year in which the number of tablet devices\u00A0finally overtakes the number of PCs\u00A0shipped worldwide.\r\n\r\nThe company's latest report foresees that the number of traditional PCs (that includes both desktops and notebooks) and ultramobile devices will\u00A0reach\u00A0317 million in 2015, up slightly from its estimate of 308 million for this year. In contrast, Gartner estimates that the number of tablet devices will increase from 256 million in 2014 to 321 million in 2015.\r\n\r\n\r\nCreate Infographics\r\nDespite the significant change at the top, Gartner believes that the ending\u00A0of support for Windows XP and general replacement cycles will mean that 2014 is &amp;quot;a relative revival&amp;quot; period for the PC market. That's to say that it predicts shipments will decline by 2.9 percent year-on-year in 2014, as opposed to the 9.5 percent drop between 2012 and 2013.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSmartphone shipments are predicted to reach 1.86 billion units this year, up from 1.8 billion in 2013. Gartner predicts that the figure will climb\u00A0by 5 percent in 2015 to reach 1.95 billion units shipped per year, though it cautions that price will be an increasingly\u00A0significant factor for sales.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;The next wave of adoption will be driven by lower price points rather than superior functionality,&amp;quot; said\u00A0Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.\r\n\r\nLooking at the tablet market itself, Strategy Analytics' recent Q1 2014 report put Android out ahead with a leading 65.8 percent share of global shipments. iOS followed with 28.4 percent, with Windows next\u00A0on 5.8 percent.\r\n\r\nAndroid-based tablets have steadily gained market share in recent years and, though the Gartner report makes no mention of the vendors, we can expect that trend to continue as more Android devices go on sale and\u00A0adoption in price sensitive emerging markets continues to grow.\r\n\r\nImage via Andreas Solaro / AFP / Getty Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2014/07/07/the-year-of-the-tablet-gartner-predicts-global-shipments-will-finally-overtake-pcs-in-2015/>