Global combined device (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) shipments will reach 2.5 billion in 2015, Gartner reports-- a 2.8% increase over 2014 as market revenues drop by -7.2% to $226 billion.

The PC market sees a -2.4% shipment decline in 2015, reaching 306 million units.

"The fall in PC purchases is primarily due to expected price increases by vendors in Europe and other regions, which is forced by local currency depreciation against the dollar," the analyst says. "The currency squeeze is forcing PC vendors to increase their prices in order to remain profitable and, as result, it is suppressing purchases. We expect businesses will delay purchases of new PCs, and consumers will delay or 'de-feature' their purchases. However, this reduction in purchasing is not a downturn, it is a reshaping of the market driven by currency."

According to Strategy Analytics global 2015 Apple Watch shipments are to total 15.4 million units-- leading to Apple topping the smartwatch vendor rankings as it takes over 55% share of the market.

The Watch should also drive the smartwatch market, as the analyst forecasts shipments growing by an impressive 511% from 4.6m in 2014 to 28.1m in 2015. The rise of the Watch comes through a number of factors, namely Apple's famous brand, deep retail presence and extensive app ecosystem.

IDC scales back its 5-year tablet forecast following the global shipment declines of Q4 2014-- the analyst expects "low but positive" 2015 results with shipments reaching 234.5 million units with 2.1% growth.

"Despite the growing popularity of phablets, there still remains a portion of the market that wants to use a larger device so they can tailor their experience to the appropriate screen size," the analyst says. "Meanwhile, an increasing number of vendors behind small tablets are reducing prices and adopting features like voice calling to entice consumers to purchase their products over competing phablets, making the dynamics of phablets vs voice-capable tablets an interesting one to watch."

Smartphones make over 60% of overall global 2014 mobile sales Gartner reports, reaching 1.2 billion units with 28.4% growth while overall mobile sales total 1.9bn units, a 3.9% increase over 2013.

The analyst adds the smartphone market also sees a record Q4 2014-- sales reach 367.5 million units with 29.9% Y-o-Y growth. In another Q4 first Apple topples Samsung as smartphone leader, a position the S. Korean giant has dominated since 2011.

"Samsung's performance in the smartphone market deteriorated further in Q4 2014, when it lost nearly 10 percentage points in market share," Gartner remarks. "Samsung continues to struggle to control its falling smartphone share, which was at its highest in Q3 2013. This downward trend shows that Samsung's share of profitable premium smartphone users has come under significant pressure."