Affordable tablets causing headache for PC sales - report

According to a new report from technology analyst firm Gartner, the tablet industry is set to explode over the next year, with tablet sales increasing by 53 percent this year alone. While sales of PC devices -- both desktop and notebook -- are projected to decline by 11.2 percent this year and then again in 2014, tablet and mobile devices are expected to see notable sales increases. In 2014 in particular, Gartner believes more than 263 million tablets will be shipped worldwide, compared to 120 million in 2012, and 184 million in 2013. Mobile phone shipments are also on the rise, up 3.7 percent to 1.8 billion shipped worldwide in 2013. The analyst firm says that this shift is being driven by the injection of lower-priced tablets and mobile devices, and tablets with smaller screen sizes. The company says that, as part of a survey, it found that nearly half of tablets sold are 8 inches or less in size -- suggesting that game developers should not just keep smaller tablet resolutions in mind when designing games, but make providing multiple resolutions a priority. In comparison, Gartner says that 341 million PC devices were shipped in 2012, while 303 million are expected to be sold in 2013, and 282 million in 2014. Thanks to the rapid expansion of the tablet space, however, overall device sales are expected to increase by 4.5 percent in 2013. The full report can be purchased from the Gartner website.