Tablets Vs PC: Will Tablets Take-Over Or Will PC's Regain the Market?

Technology advances relatively fast, products change, get updated and outdated in a similar fashion. It is quite fascinating how the giants of technological advancement and innovations and the large companies that manufacture consumer electronic products take this tech war to the next level. In this age of smartphones, smart technology and machine-to-machine communication, several different forecasts are made by prominent analysis and market research firms, trying to give consumers a glimpse of what the future holds. And as far as smartphones, tablets and PCs are concerned, there seems to be an outstanding battle as to which device holds the consumer electronics market.

According to Frost and Sullivan, the global growth consulting firm based in Mountain View, California, smartphones and laptops are widely used among enterprises. The survey revealed that 71 percent of the organizations use smartphones, while 74 percent of them use corporate-owned laptops for work. The survey also revealed that only nearly half of the participating organizations issue tablets to their employees. The firm's latest analysis, The Future of Mobile Devices from a Customer Perspective - the US and Europe, showed that tablets are expected to increase adoption in the next three years. Frost and Sullivan says that the emergence of more data-intensive mobile applications will result to the migration of smartphones to tablets. The report forecasts a decrease of 8 percent from 66 percent of smartphone users in 2016. Tablets, however, are expected to increase to 56 percent from 49 percent.

Meanwhile, a report that was recently published by Gartner, an information technology research firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, revealed that there is a good chance for the PC market to revive in 2014, and the tablets, which are allegedly giving the PC market a slow death, is expected to grow in a much slower pace this year.

Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner, said that, "2014 will be marked by a relative revival of the global PC market. Business upgrades from Windows XP and the general business replacement cycle will lessen the downward trend, especially in Western Europe. This year, we anticipate nearly 60 million professional PC replacements in mature markets." He added that the traditional desktop and notebook market will follow the same downward trend, however will only contract by 6.7 percent this year and expected to do the same by 5.3 percent in 2015. Tablets will slow down with only nearly 256 million units this year, a 23.9 perfect increase from 2013.

However, Gartner also said, that what will truly bridge the gap between the traditional tablet and the smartphone is another device called phablet, which is still considered a smartphone, according to Business Insider Intelligence. As per Gartner, phablets could become the next big thing as consumers are looking into carrying one device less, and the combination of a smartphone and a tablet is a much appealing choice for more consumers.

While it is true that the mobile device landscape is quickly evolving, especially with the widespread adoption of the Android Operating System and Android Application Development, taking 56 percent of the total supported devices, while Apple iOS only takes 41 percent. Nonetheless, the overall percentage of the workforce is still traditional, which means most people still work in offices. Mobile and remote workers only account to a combination of 38 percent, while office workers account 62 percent.

Karolina Olszewska, Research Analyst of Frost and Sullivan, agrees that the changes will not occur radically. She said, "This trend is not expected to change drastically within the next three years, the number of in-office workers is expected to decrease, while remote and mobile workers are expected to increase, signifying greater opportunities for smartphone and tablet makers."