Worldwide device shipments will increase to 2.5 billion this year, with Android alone contributing one-billion units, according to research firm Gartner.
The market watcher's annual worldwide device trends report predicts by the end of this year the number of devices shipped, including traditional PCs, laptops, tablets and phones, will reach 2.5 billion units and grow to 2.6 billion in 2015.
The company also projects that the number of Android devices will grow by 291 million units, year-on-year, while the number of those running Windows will grow by 14 million.
Mac and iOS-based devices are forecasted to grow by 45 million units over the same timeframe.
Meanwhile, the number of devices shipped running other operating systems will shrink by 189.7 million between 2013 and 2014, and by 118.3 million between 2014 and 2015.
According to Ranjit Atwal, lead analyst for the report, this trend can be attributed to people in developing nations moving from feature phones over to low-cost Android devices.
"We expect to see an upgrade path happening here," Atwal told IT Pro. "As we get cheaper Android smartphones coming into those markets, that will drive some of the upgrade paths in 2014, 2015."
The report also suggests the move from PCs to tablets will start to decline, thanks to the notion of contextual computing.
"In the past, people used to buy PCs because they had no other choice. But now, if people aren't doing anything like using Microsoft Office or other things that lend themselves to a bigger screen, they go for smartphones and those kinds of combined devices," said Atwal.
"But if you are doing that kind of thing, then you will still want a traditional computer. That is why over the past few years we have seen the install base shrink, but it is not disappearing," he added.
Atwal said people have different devices for different tasks, such as work, travelling and at home.
Furthermore, consumers are increasingly valuing other device features, such as smaller sized screens and greater portability in tablets.
