Gartner: The number of devices in use worldwide will reach 6.2 billion in 2021

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Recently, Gartner pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way devices are used and increased the number of devices owned by each person. It is expected that the number of devices in use, including PCs, tablets and smartphones, will reach 6.2 billion in 2021. Among them, the number of notebooks and tablets will increase by 125 million compared with 2020, and the number of devices in use worldwide in 2022 is expected to continue to grow by 3.2% to 6.4 billion.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the desktop market, which is expected to drop from 522 million units in 2020 to 470 million units in 2022. At the same time, as the first choice for many people to study and work remotely at home, the usage rates of notebooks and tablets will increase by 8.8% and 11.7% respectively.

Ranjit Atwal, senior research director at Gartner, commented: "The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed the device usage patterns of employees and consumers. As remote work shifts to hybrid work, home schooling shifts to digital education, and interactive games move to the cloud, the types and number of devices people need, own and use will continue to grow."

Finally, excluding laptops and tablets, the growth rate of smartphone device usage is expected to decline from 2.6% last year to 1% this year. Analysts said that entry-level 5G models are encouraging smartphone users to upgrade their devices or switch from feature phones to smartphone platforms.