The unstoppable rise of smartphones and tablets will see 1.2 billion of the devices being bought worldwide next year, analyst Gartner is predicting. It also forecasts sales of 821 million of the smart devices this year — which is says will account for 70 percent of total devices sold in 2012.
While businesses have traditionally lagged consumer markets when it comes to adopting new devices, tablet sales to businesses are set to grow substantially in the coming years, according to Gartner. It’s predicting tablet purchases by businesses will grow 3x by 2016 — describing slates as “they key accelerator to mobility” for enterprises. Tablet purchases by businesses will reach 13 million units this year, says Gartner, more than tripling by 2016 to reach 53 million units.
