Global combined PC, tablet and mobile device shipments are to reach 2.32 billion with 4.5% growth according to Gartner, with a shift to lower-priced devices across all categories driving the market.

As we all know, traditional (desktop and notebook) PC shipments are forecast to drop by -11.2% to 303m units, while the overall PC market (including ultramobiles) is to decline by 8.4%.

Mobile phone volume is to reach over 1.8bn units with 3.7% growth, while tablet shipments are to reach 184m units with 53.4% growth. When it comes to tablets, Gartner confirms the "smaller is better" maxim-- according to a recent international consumer study the average tablet display sizes stands at the 8.3-9.5 inch range, with 45% of 21500 surveyed consumers owning a tablet 8-inch or less in size.

Juniper Research predicts retail revenues from wearable electronics (including smartwatches and glasses) are to reach $1.4 billion in 2013 before growing to $19bn by 2018, thanks to the combination of high price points and "strong" market demand.

“It is worth observing that this change in adoption levels can also be attributable to heightened consumer awareness of wearable technology and a better visibility of product adoption, especially in the smart watch segment," the analyst says.

According to Juniper the wearable device market should see several changes in the near future as the app model develops and embedded cellular connectivity use increases. These include subscription-based revenues for devices and developers across the health, sports and communication segments.

A leadership shift is taking place in the tablet market ABI Research reports-- Android tablets beat the iPad family in the Q2 2013 shipment and revenue stakes as overall shipments grow by 23% Y-o-Y (or drop -17% Q-o-Q).

Tablet revenues total $12.7 billion with Apple taking only 50%, $6.3bn.

“Smaller 7-inch tablets are finally the majority of shipments,” the analyst adds. “The 7.9-inch iPad mini represented about 60% of total iPad shipments and 49% of iPad-related device revenues in the quarter.”

The chief driver behind such change is ASPs-- 2012 had iPad ASPs dropping by -17% (due to the iPad mini) while rest of market grew by 17%.

Tablet shipments should surpass PC shipments on Q4 2013 before surpassing PCs on an annual basis by end 2015, IDC reports in the Quarterly Smart Connected Device forecast.

The analyst predicts the overall connected device market (combining PC, tablets and smartphones) will grow by 27.8% in 2013, with shipments reaching 1.6 billion units. Tablets and smartphones predictably spur such growth, while IDC lowers 2013 PC outlook by 10%.

In terms of revenue smart connected devices will grow by 10.6% to $622.4bn in 2013-- but such growth will trickle to just 3.1% by 2017, a tapering forecast caused by the the growing impact of low-cost smartphones and white box tablets.