Gartner: Microsoft risks becoming irrelevant if Windows Phone, tablet efforts fail

Gartner: Microsoft risks becoming irrelevant if Windows Phone, tablet efforts fail:
In case you haven't noticed, tablet and smartphone sales have been surging lately as PC sales have started to tank. The latest research from Gartner shows that this trend won't change anytime soon and the firm projects that PC shipments will shrink from 315 million in 2013 to 302 million in 2014, and down to just 272 million in 2017. Tablet shipments, on the other hand, are expected to explode from 197 million in 2013 to 468 million in 2017, while smartphone shipments are expected to rise from 1.9 billion in 2012 to 2.1 billion in 2013.

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