GLOBAL sales of Internet devices, including PCs, tablets and mobile phones, are showing steady growth in 2013, amid a shift to more mobile gadgets, a survey showed yesterday.

The Gartner survey suggests the number of these devices will increase 5.9 percent in 2013 to 2.35 billion, driven by sales in tablets, smartphones, and to a lesser extent, "ultramobile" PCs.

Desk-based and notebook PC shipments are forecast to drop 10.6 percent to 305 million units, not including ultramobiles, a new category of PCs which covers smaller computers including convertible tablets.

Tablet shipments may expand 67.9 percent to 202 million units, while the mobile phone market will grow 4.3 percent to 1.8 billion.

"Consumers want anytime-anywhere computing that allows them to consume and create content with ease, but also share and access that content from a different portfolio of products," said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.

"Mobility is paramount in both mature and emerging markets."

Sales of ultramobile PCs, which include the Google Chromebook, are set to double in 2013 but remain at a relatively modest 20 million units, Gartner said.

It said the red-hot growth in tablets and smartphones will taper off as these devices gain longer life cycles. The report said consumers are opting for "basic" tablets to cut costs.