Gartner, a research firm this week said that at the end of this year, every device that has Microsoft’s and Apple’s OS powering it will stop shipping. However, that of Apple is expected to pick up next year, while that of Microsoft will still be struggling to grow.
Apple’s combination of macOS and iOS in 2017 which is expected to power iPhones and Macs will come in second behind Windows in the category of devices that were shipped in 2016. The gap that exists between the two is expected to slightly widen in 2018.
Gartner in a forecast it gave to Computerworld where it broke down operating systems said that 260 million devices will be powered by Windows and shipped before 2016 comes to an end, which results in 12% decline through the year. For the 260 million devices, it represents 11.2% out of the total 2.3 billion in devices that run Google’s Android overwhelmingly.
All through last year and this year, 2016, Gartner has made a point of duty to reduce the number of devices that has been shipped and the portion that Windows have in the shipment made so far. The firm in March this year made a projection that the total number of devices that will be shipped this year will be 2.4 billion out of which 283 million will be powered by Windows representing 11.7%.
There has been a documentation of the Microsoft’s operating system that has been experiencing shrinking share. Windows made an improvement this year after Microsoft gave up on the fight it has with Google and Apple by stepping out the smartphones market.
Both macOS and iOS will account for the 259 million devices shipped this year alone which represents 11.1%. This is a decline from last year’s 278 million and a further decrease of 14% from the protection made in March this year. The reason for this is due to the sale of iPhone which is the major device that Apple is concentrating its effort on.
But the two OS will pick up next year according to Garter, and is expected to reach 280 million and 290 million in 2018. On Windows part, it is projected to further drop by 3% resulting in 253 million in the year 2017, but will regain a little to 254 million in 2018.
The projections made by Gartner for 2017 for all devices this year have been quite gloomy. They also added that smartphones category that has seen positive growth will witness decline in some segments. The smartphones, the firm projects a 1.1% decline of premium smartphones shipment, blaming it on Apple’s inability to maintain growth after the arrival of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
The firm says it is very worried about Microsoft being that the company has always depended on shipment of personal computer that has not been seeing a growth in recent times.
Gartner is of the opinion that there will be a continuous contract of PC-like devices and that they will shrink at the end of the year by 8%, but that it will pick up a little in 2017 with 0.4% gain and in will in 2018 see 3% gain.
Gartner has been projecting for tablets, smartphones, PCs and hybrids but has not delved into such things as smart watches, Apple TV and streaming devices.
