Research company Gartner expects Android to continue to grow this year when it comes to the total number of shipped units, topping 1.1 billion device shipments for 2014, an impressive number for Google’s ecosystem.
According to the company, Android will grow 26% this year, from almost 900 million shipped units registered in 2013. In second place Microsoft’s Windows operating system (desktop and mobile) will account for almost 360 million device shipments this year, up from 328 million last year, while the iOS/OS X combo will be third with over 344 million buyers, up from last year’s almost 267 million customers. The numbers are expected to further increase in 2015, when 1.25 billion Android devices will be sold, as well as 422.7 million Windows PCs and smartphones and over 397 Apple devices.
Worldwide Device Shipments by Operating System (Thousands of Units) | Image credit: Gartner
In total, Android is expected to reach almost 2 billion of installed-base devices, with iOS/OS X accounting for 682 million devices.
Worldwide Device Shipments by Segment (Thousands of Units) | Image credit: Gartner
The company also said that the total number of sold devices including PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones will reach 2.5 billion units this year, a 7.6% increase from last year. Combined, 1.9 billion mobile phones are expected to be sold this year, over 263 million tablets and 278 million PCs. Of those, the tablets are seeing the most important growth compared to 2013 at 47%, while regular PCs are on the decline. Ultramobile devices including hybrid and clamshell handsets will account for 39.6 million purchased units in 2014, up significantly from the 17 million of shipped units registered for last year. Tablets and ultramobiles will see further growth in 2015, while PC sales will continue to drop and handset sales will almost reach 2 billion units sales next year.