According to IC Insights overall global 2014 personal computing device (combined desktops, notebooks, tablets and thin clients) shipments will grow by 12% to 585 million units, up from 521m in 2013.

Shipments for 2015 should rise by 9% to 639m units, while the 2012-2017 forecast period is to see a CAGR of 9.4% with shipments reaching 731m by end 2017.

The analyst says the standard PC (desktops and notebooks) market is still sluggish, with a -5% shipment decline to 298m units in 2014. Next year should see a small 1% increase to 302m.

Meanwhile 2014 tablet shipments will grow by 39% to 281m, before reaching 327m with 16% growth in 2015. Thin clients should also grow, with 2014 shipments rising by 22% to 6m units and 2015 units reaching 10m with 56% growth.

IC Insights expects tablets to grow with a CAGR of 28.8% over 2012-2017, despite competition from phablets and a slower replacement cycle.

When it comes to sales market growth is much slower than shipments, primarily due to declining PC ASPs and the popularity of cheap 7-9-inch tablets when compared to larger 9-12-inch devices. Thus the analyst predicts 2014 personal computing sales will grow by 5% to $295 billion, while the 2012-2017 period should see a 3.4% CAGR to revenues reaching $327bn by end 2017.

Go Personal Computing Units Rising Despite Drop in Desktops, Notebooks (IC Insights)