Telecom Lead Asia: Global tablet market is expected to grow 69.8 percent to 197 million units in 2013.

In 2012, the worldwide tablet shipments were 116 million units.

Tablets will see aggressive price erosion.

Key growth drivers in the global tablet market — which is dominated by Samsung and Apple — include lower prices, form factor variety, cloud update and consumers’ addiction to apps.

Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner, said: “Growth in the tablet segment will not be limited to mature markets alone. Users in emerging markets who are looking for a companion to their mobile phone will increasingly choose a tablet as their first computing device and not a PC.”

Gartner says worldwide devices (the combined shipments of PCs, tablets and mobile phones) will reach 2.4 billion units in 2013, up 9 percent from 2012.

Though device shipments will reach more than 2.9 billion units in 2017, mix of these devices will significantly change over the forecast period.

The proliferation of lower-priced tablets and their growing capability is accelerating the shift from PCs to tablets.

Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, said: “While there will be some individuals who retain both a personal PC and a tablet, especially those who use either or both for work and play, most will be satisfied with the experience they get from a tablet as their main computing device.”

As consumers shift their time away from their PC to tablets and smartphones, the traditional PC market of notebooks and desk-based units is expected to decline 7.6 percent in 2013.

The trend, which induced by a more austere economic environment, is a reflection of a long-term change in user behavior. Beginning in 2013, ultramobiles will help offset this decline, so that sales of traditional PCs and ultramobiles combined show a 3.5 percent decline in 2013.

Android will continue to be the dominant OS in the device market, buoyed by strong growth in the smartphone market. Competition for the second spot will be between Apple’s iOS/Mac OS and Microsoft Windows.

Of the 1.875 billion mobile phones to be sold in 2013, 1 billion units will be smartphones, compared with 675 million units in 2012.