Tablets will comprise half of 1st-time PC purchases by 2017

With smart mobile devices inching out desktops and laptops, global research firm Gartner has said that it expects about half of first time computer purchases to comprise of tablets by 2017.

The research firm also said smartphones, tablets and ultra mobile PCS will account for over 80 per cent of spending on devices during the same period.

"Gartner also forecasts that by 2017, nearly half of first-time computer purchases will be a tablet," it said in a release.

Mobile smart devices would have taken over the technology world and by 2017, new device categories like mobile phones, tablets, and ultra-mobile PCs will represent more than 80 per cent of device spending, it added.

Gartner said the global IT spending is forecast to touch $3.8 trillion in 2014, 3.6 per cent increase from 2013, but it is the opportunities of a digital world that have the IT leaders excited.

"Digital Industrial Economy will be built on foundations of Nexus of Forces (which includes confluence and integration of cloud, social collaboration, mobile and information) and the Internet of Everything by combining the physical world and virtual," Gartner Global Research Head Peter Sondergaard said.

In 2009, there were 2.5 billion connected devices with unique IP addresses to the Internet, most of these devices were cell phones and PCs, Gartner said. In 2020, there will be up to 30 billion devices connected with unique IP addresses, most of which will be products.

"This creates a new economy. In fact, Gartner predicts that the total economic value add for the Internet of Things will be $1.9 trillion in 2020, benefiting a wide range of industries, such as, healthcare, retail and transportation," it added.

"Digital changes the IT market in a big way through the Internet of Things," Sondergaard said, adding: "In technology and telecom sectors, revenue associated with the Internet of Things will exceed $309 billion per year by 2020."