Tablets leading mobile tech market growth

According to Gartner, the technology research company, tablet market would grow with more than 67.9% offsetting recent PC market stagnation. Smartphones would also slow their growth according to the research.

Gartner noted that the shift from PCs to tablets is due to a growing acceptance of the bring your own device, trend, which increases the overall use of smaller consumer devices.

“Mobility is paramount in both mature and emerging markets,” said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi in a statement, cited by Computerworld.

Small-sized, lightweight tablets become more popular driving the growth in the computing hardware market this year, according to analyst forecasts, as sales of PCs continue to fall and smartphone sales are slowing.

As mobile devices are believed to increase sales, Android – the dominant operation system for those devices, raised forecasts for market share till the end of this year. If true, the software which is now covering around 23% of all devices shipped is supposed to reach 37% in 2013, and 42% a year later.

However, Gartner doesnt expect tablets to out-ship PCs until the end of 2014. Most analysts agree that there are three basic reasons for the tablet to overtake laptop/desktop sales. One is cost, as tablets cost about 60% less than the average desktop and laptop. Tablets are more mobile and could be used on the go. A third reason why they become increasingly popular is the accessibility they offer. Comparing to laptops and PC, tablets are much easier to use. They have instant-on capabilities, longer battery life and touchscreens that are only recently available on desktops and laptops.

It seems that tablet devices gather the best traits of both smartphones and computers/laptops, creating a easy to use, mobile device with powerful capabilities.

Apple, Samsung and Asus are the leaders of the tablet market taking more than 62% of the market. Apple is still staying a strong leader among them.

“The iPad remains the benchmark for what a tablet should be,” says Carolina Milanesi, research vice-president at Gartner.