Worldwide shipments of PCs, tablets and smartphones are expected to exceed 2.3 billion units in 2017, a decline of 0.3% from 2016, according to research and advisory company Gartner Inc.
According to Gartner, the market is forecast to return to growth in 2018 with a 1.6% increase in shipments.
The overall shipment growth of the device market was steady for the first time in many years, Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal said, "PC shipments are slightly lower while smartphone shipments are slightly higher — leading to a slight downward revision in shipments from the previous forecast," he said.
Gartner also added that while PC shipments are going to drop 3% in 2017, the rate of decline is slower than in recent years, alleviated by Windows 10 replacement purchasing.
The impact of component pricing on PCs is being reduced for buyers as producers absorb some of the cost into their margins — fearing the alternative of a reduction of their share of a competitive market, it said.
Atwal said PC buyers continue to put quality and functionality ahead of price. "Many organisations are coming to the end of their evaluation periods for Windows 10, and are now increasing the speed at which they adopt new PCs as they see the clear benefits of better security and newer hardware," he said.
Meanwhile, Gartner said overall smartphone shipments will grow 5% in 2017, reaching nearly 1.6 billion units. It also said that consumers are now moving towards higher priced and “premium phones” from basic and low-cost phones.