IDC reports global tablet shipments are to reach 211.3 million units in 2015, a -8.1% drop following 3 consecutive quarters of declining WW tablet shipments in 2015.

However, while the device category appears to be on the wane the analyst points out at least one growth opportunity-- tablets with detachable displays.

"We're witnessing a real market transition as end users shift their demand towards detachables and more broadly towards a productivity-based value proposition," IDC says. "The proliferation of detachable offerings from hardware vendors continues to help drive this switch. We're starting to see the impact of competition within this space as the major platform vendors-– Apple, Google and Microsoft-- now have physical product offerings."

According to Gartner, global combined device (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) shipments are to drop by -1% to 2.4 billion units-- the result of customers not replacing devices currently in use.

Such a forecast is a downgrade from previous Gartner forecasts of 1.5% growth. The analyst says shipments of all device categories other than mobile phones (set to grow by 1.5% through smartphone growth reaching 14%) will contract in 2015.

"By 2017, we estimate mobile phone shipments will reach the 2bn mark, and smartphones will represent 89% of the market," Gartner remarks.

According to Canalys Q2 2015 sees Lenovo beat Apple in PC shipments-- a position Apple has held since Q3 2014-- as the Chinese company ships 24000 more PCs than the iPad maker, taking over 15% market share.

One has to keep in mind the analyst counts tablets together with notebooks and desktops as PCs, unlike other analysts (such as Gartner and IDC) insisting tablets make a separate device category.

As such, global Q2 2015 PC (and tablet) shipments total 109.2 million units with 12% Y-o-Y declines caused by double-digit drops in desktop, notebook and tablet shipments. The vendor rankings have Lenovo followed by Apple, HP, Dell and Samsung.

Global hybrid device shipments are to reach 21.5 million in 2015 Gartner reports, a 70% increase over 2014 as customers find the combination of portability, productivity and flexibility increasingly attractive.

The "hybrid" category covers ultramobile/2-in-1 tablets and so-called hybrid ultramobiles (2-in-1 detachables and convertibles). According to the analyst hybrid utramobiles are the fastest growing mobile PC segment, with 77% shipment growth on 2015 shipments reaching 13.5m units. Meanwhile ultramobile tablet shipments should reach 8m.

Gartner adds hybrids account for 12% of 2015 mobile PC shipments, a figure set to reach 26% in 2019. The device category has seen non-stop growth since 2012, and as such 2019 sales are expected to reach 58m, up from 12.6m in 2014.

Virtual reality might bring about a very real business opportunity, CSS Insight reports, as the analyst predicts augmented and virtual reality devices are set to become a $4 billion market by 2018.

The forecast adds VR/AR hardware sales will reach 2.5 million in 2015 before growing to over 24m by 2018-- with virtual reality headset sales reaching 12m in 2017 while augmented reality smart glasses sales will be worth $1.2bn in the same year.

CSS Insight insists augmented and virtual reality are different technologies (VR involves immersive experiences, AR enhances the "real" world), but each has potential for "transformative" experiences. VR has the most near-future potential, since it has the weight several industry giants, including Facebook, Google, Sony and HTC, pushing gaming and general entertainment applications. However AR arguably has the most long-term potential, since it involves lower overall costs.

Mobile internet is not just for smartphones, Gartner says-- cellular-embedded mobile PC, tablet and mobile hot spot device shipments are up by 5.6% to 112 million in 2015 as demand for always-on internet connectivity drives further adoption.

"Mobile access is not just about smartphones," the analyst remarks. "Consumers and business users alike want to connect multiple mobile devices to the Internet at an affordable cost or at an acceptable data rate."

The growing number of non-smartphone devices-- and resultant connection needs-- represent, of course, an opportunity for vendors, retailers and telcos. Some companies are even going for collaborations, such as the case of HP, Qualcomm and T-Mobile, who offer a 200MB of free data monthly with the 4G-enabled HP Stream Book 13.

Global cellular-embedded mobile PC (notebooks and premium ultramobiles) should grow from 1.8m to 4.9m from 2014 through 2019, with penetration growing from 1.3% to 2.7% of total mobile PCs. Such totals should remain relatively low, as the majority of mobile PCs find desk-based use, and such tend to have fixed broadband access. However Gartner points out an opportunity in premium ultramobiles, which tend to be preferred by frequent travellers willing to pay extra for easy internet access.

Global combined device (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) shipments will reach 2.5 billion in 2015, Gartner reports-- a 2.8% increase over 2014 as market revenues drop by -7.2% to $226 billion.

The PC market sees a -2.4% shipment decline in 2015, reaching 306 million units.

"The fall in PC purchases is primarily due to expected price increases by vendors in Europe and other regions, which is forced by local currency depreciation against the dollar," the analyst says. "The currency squeeze is forcing PC vendors to increase their prices in order to remain profitable and, as result, it is suppressing purchases. We expect businesses will delay purchases of new PCs, and consumers will delay or 'de-feature' their purchases. However, this reduction in purchasing is not a downturn, it is a reshaping of the market driven by currency."

According to IDC the W. European mobile phone market fails to grow in 2014, making for a 2nd consecutive year of shipment declines-- a clear sign of saturation as overall 2014 shipments drop by -5.2% to 174.1 million units.

The feature phone segment is worst hit, with shipments dropping by 39% to 28.4m units and revenues worth $1.4 billion. IDC describes feature phones as nothing less than a niche segment, one representing just 16% of 2014 shipments and 2.2% of total market value.