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Worldwide hybrid device shipments will grow by 70 per cent during 2015, so says analyst Gartner.
The analyst predicts that devices are on pace to reach 21.5 million units in 2015, and will account for 12 per cent of total sales within the PC market, rising to 26 per cent in 2019.
Tracy Tsai, research director at Gartner, said: “Of the 21.5 million hybrid devices shipped in 2015, eight million will be ultramobile tablets (two-in-one tablets) and 13.5 million hybrid ultramobiles (two-in-one detachable and convertible ultramobiles).
“This will make hybrid ultramobiles the fastest-growing segment of the mobile PC market with 77 per cent year-on-year growth."
Although hybrids have witnessed strong growth, Garter believes that clamshells will remain the mainstream form factor, accounting for 87 per cent of mobile PCs in 2015.
During Q3 2014, Gartner also found that 11 per cent of tablet users and 10 per cent of desktop users are considering replacing their current device with a hybrid.
Gartner believes that the launch of Windows 10 will also compel more businesses to purchase hybrid devices, as the OS will offer a better user experience.
Tsai added: “Windows 10 on hybrid ultramobiles will offer a better user experience with touch and voice as well as universal Windows apps – apps written just once that receive device-specific user experience tweaks to allow them to run on different Windows devices."
In 2014 ASUS was the number one hybrid ultramobile device vendor, with 41 per cent market share, while Lenovo took the number two position with market share growing from 16.5 per cent to 27 per cent from 2013 to 2014 in Western Europe. HP was the third biggest vendor in 2014 selling 800,000 units.
