STAMFORD, Conn., April 5 (UPI) -- A shift in computing preferences has helped tablet shipments grow rapidly while sales of traditional PCs are in decline, a U.S. technology research firm says.
Gartner Inc., says tablet computer shipments are expected to grow 70 percent while personal computers and laptop shipments are predicted to decline 7.3 percent by 2017, ZDNet reported Friday.
Sales of PCs, tablets and smartphones -- collectively known as combined worldwide devices -- will show increases but the market share of the devices will shift over time with a greater focus on portability and mobile devices, Gartner said.
"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," Gartner research Vice President Carolina Milanesi said.
This has long been expected based on changes in user preferences over the long term, Gartner said.
By 2017 1.46 million devices will be running the Android platform while Windows-based machines will reach around the half-million mark, the Gartner report said.
