Tablets will challenge PC sales by 2017 as Android passes iPad, says IDC
Its long-term forecast reckons that by 2017 total tablet shipments will hit nearly 353m - compared to its forecast released a week ago for the PC market in that year, which it reckons will be 382m, after substantially revising its forecast for future PC shipments downwards last week.
That means that in just seven years from the release of Apple 's iPad , the tablet would be challenging the PC as the most-sold computing device - if one discounts the smartphone, which has outsold PCs since the fourth quarter of 2010.
Shipments in 2012 were 128.8m, IDC estimates - suggesting that this year will see a 48% jump in the number of tablets going to retailers, The Guardian reports.
IDC also forecasts a boom in smaller tablets with screens less than 8in diagonally: "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, IDC's tablet analyst. "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."
That category includes Apple's iPad mini , Google's Nexus 7, Amazon's Kindle Fire and products from Samsung and Kobo. (All those products run versions of Android , though not all linking to Google.) None of those companies has given figures for sales or shipments of those categories; Apple lumps iPad mini sales in with its larger iPad.
IDC also forecasts that Android tablets will overtake Apple in sheer numbers this year - by 93m to 89m - and continue that dominance through the forecast period. Apple outsold Android devices, just, in 2012, with a 51% share, IDC says.
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