Tablet market to continue upward trend

Looks like we’re going to see more and more tablets in the near future as the International Data Corporation (IDC) has predicted an increase in shipments of these devices especially lower-priced ones starting this year.

According to IDC’s forecast, this year’s worldwide tablet market will total 190.9 million units with an average increase of 11% between 2013 and 2016. The Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker estimates tablet shipments will reach more than 350 million by the end of 2017.

Smaller and lower-priced tablets continue to be a major driving factor for the surge. “One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8 inches in screen size. And in terms of shipments, we expect smaller tablets to continue growing in 2013 and beyond,” said Jitesh Ubrani, Research Analyst for IDC’s Tablet Tracker. “Vendors are moving quickly to compete in this space as consumers realize that these small devices are often more ideal than larger tablets for their daily consumption habits.”

IDC has also projected Android’s share of the tablet market to peak at 48.8% in 2013 while Apple slips to 46%. Windows 8-based tablets are predicted to grow to 7.4% in 2017 while Windows RT is expected to remain below 3% during the forecast period.

Meanwhile, as the tablet market increases, the PC market continues to plummet with IDC expecting a 1.3% decrease in shipments for this year.

{sources 1 & 2}