Overall Device Shipments to Increase Almost 6 Percent, According to Gartner

We are increasingly becoming a “device oriented” society on a worldwide basis.

Moreover, the trend will grow by 5.9 percent in 2013, according to a news release from information technology research and advisory company, Gartner, Monday. Shipments of devices (PCs, tablets, and mobile phones), the release said, will reach 2.35 billion units by the end of the year.

Breaking the numbers down, it likely comes as no surprise that traditional desktop and notebook PC sales are projected to decline 10.6 percent. Even if you add in ultramobiles, according to Gartner, the PC market still declines 7.3 percent in 2013.

More than offsetting those numbers, however, will be a 67.9 percent increase in tablet shipments and a 4.3 percent boost in mobile phone sales.

Computing isn’t going away – it’s changing. Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner said, "Consumers want anytime-anywhere computing that allows them to consume and create content with ease, but also share and access that content from a different portfolio of products. Mobility is paramount in both mature and emerging markets."

Some of the biggest increase in demand will benefit Google GOOG, maker of the Chromebook. Also expected to see increased shipments are devices running Microsoft Corp’s MSFT Windows 8, Apple’s AAPL iPad, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab10.1.

Ultramobile devices are starting to draw demand as well. Gartner said the attractiveness of ultramobiles will become more evident in Q4 when devices powered by Intel Corp INTC processors, Bay Trail and Haswell, running Windows 8.1 become available.

There are challenges as well. Devices of all stripes are lasting longer and not being replaced as often. In addition, many consumers are shifting from premium tablets to basic models.

Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner said, "The increased availability of lower priced basic tablets, plus the value add shifting to software rather than hardware will result in the lifetimes of premium tablets extending as they remain active in the household for longer. We will also see consumer preferences split between basic tablets and ultramobile devices."

Atwal noted another challenge in the smartphone segment. In addition to increased life cycles of devices, consumers will wait to replace existing phones for lower prices in the fall and during the holiday shopping season. “…as penetration moves more and more to the mass market,” Atwal said, “price points are lowering and in most cases so do margins."

The Gartner report makes it clear that the landscape is changing. The combination of a continuing decline in PC sales, growth of tablets and ultramobiles, and a “settling in” of electronic devices through software upgrades are all signs of an increasingly mobile world.

At the time of this writing, Jim Probasco had no position in any mentioned securities.