Research group Gartner said there will be more than 1 billion smartphones and tablet computers equipped with Google's Android operating system that will be shipped this year, Reuters reported. The research firm predicts that there will be 1.1 billion users in 2014 that will be using Android, which represents a 26% rise from last year. Majority of the demand will come from emerging markets, the report said. Samsung, HTC, Sony and other manufactures install Android on their products.
Meanwhile, Gartner said Apple's iOS and Mac OS operating systems are forecast to be installed in 344 million new iPhones, iPads and Macs for 2014. This would represent an increase of 28% on the number of devices shipped last year.
In a statement, Gartner analyst Annette Zimmerman said, "There is no doubt that there is a volume-versus-value equation, with Android users purchasing lower-cost devices compared to Apple users."
The Windows operating system of Microsoft, which leads in the PC and notebook segments, is seen to be installed in 360 million new devices. This would be an increase from the 328 million last year. Gartner added that growth in the PC and notebook segment has been affected by the rising popularity of tablet computers whose sales are seen to rise by 47% this year to 263 million.
Gartner Research Director Ranjit Atwal said, "Users continue to move away from the traditional PC as it becomes more of a shared-content creation tool, while the greater flexibility of tablets, hybrids and lighter notebooks address users' increasingly different usage demands."
In the mobile phone segment, sales of mobile phones are expected to still rise albeit it will be at a slower pace, with consumers buying mid-level products from top-end premium devices, Atwal said. Gartner also forecasts that the all in all, the worldwide shipments of all devices will increase 7.6% this year to reach 2.48 billion units.
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