Devices shipments are set to grow in the Asia Pacific region, driven by sales of mobile phones and ultramobiles, according to Gartner.

Combined shipments of devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) in the Asia Pacific region are forecast to total 1.2 billion units in 2015, an increase of 3.2% over 2014, says Gartner.

“Device penetration is very high in Asia Pacific – at or beyond saturation point in mature markets and major cities in the emerging markets,” says Lillian Tay, Gartner principal analyst.

“Market saturation, along with consumers extending the lifetime of their tablets, has caused a re-calibration in the growth trajectory in the market.

“From 2016, we expect the tablet market to resume growth from a stabilised base,” says Tay.

The computing devices market is forecast to decline 1.9% this year, affected by low demand for tablets.

The PC market overall will continue to grow slightly, as shipments in the premium ultramobile category compensate for a decline in sales of traditional desk-based and notebook PCs.

Growth in Asia Pacific's PC market will be marginal, however. In 2014, total PC shipments were 102,653. This year, PC shipments are expected to total 104,442 and in 2017 this number is expected to reach 107,169.

The overall increase in device shipments is driven by 4.1% growth in the mobile phone market, as cheaper priced smartphones stimulate replacements, especially in emerging markets.

In 2014, mobile phone shipments totaled 987,725 for the Asia Pacific market. In 2015, this is expected to increase to 1,028,389 and by 2017 Gartner expects the total number of mobile phone shipments to be 1,111,488.

Ultramobile devices including Microsoft's Windows 8 Intel x86 products, Apple's MacBook Air, the iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and the Nexus 7 also contributed to the devices shipment growth.