Android 4.4.2 KitKat

Android to dominate as device shipments reach 2.5bn in 2014

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Android 4.4.2 KitKat

8 January 2014

Analyst firm Gartner said it expects the total number of Android users to increase by 26% from 2013 to reach 1.1 billion as the operating system (OS) continues its market dominance.

According to the firm’s principal analyst, Annette Zimmerman, Android holds the largest number of installed-base devices, with 1.9 billion in use in 2014, compared with 682 million iOS and Mac units. A major contributor to these figures is the abundance of lower-cost Android products.

In its forecast, PCs, Ultramobiles, and Mobiles Phones, Worldwide, 2010 to 2017, Q4 2013 Update report, Gartner estimated a healthy increase in iOS and Mac OS users, growing to 344.2 million in 2014, up from 266.7million the previous year.

Microsoft’s Windows OS will remain in second place, though, increasing from 327.9 million in 2013 to 359.8 million this year.

On the hardware front, Gartner said mobile phones will dominate overall device shipments, with 1.9 billion expected to be shipped this year, a 5% increase from 2013. Ultramobiles (tablets, hybrids and clamshells), will take over as the main driver of growth in the device market from 2014, with a growth rate of 54%.

“Mobile phones are a must have and will continue to grow but at a slower pace, with opportunities moving away from the top-end premium devices to mid-end basic products,” said Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal. “Users continue to move away from the traditional PC (notebooks and desk-based) as it becomes more of a shared content creation tool, while the greater flexibility of tablets, hybrids and lighter notebooks address users’ increasingly different demands.”

Gartner’s figures indicate PCs will continue their slow demise, with worldwide shipments predicted to drop to 277.9 million in 2014 from 299.3 million last year.

IDG News Service

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