Tablet Shipments Fall Off 30%, but Growth Expected To Resume
2014 will be a "tipping point" for tablet users, according to ABI Research. While first-quarter 2014 saw a 30 percent decline in tablets shipped compared with the same period last year, growth is expected to resume throughout the rest of the year. And when it does, Android just might come out on top for the first time.
Even so, according to ABI, Apple's iPad will remain the No. 1 individual brand, with Samsung's line trailing in second. But taking all brands into account, Android is expected to have a larger active installed base than iOS for the first time ever by the end of 2014.
Total tablet shipments are expected to hit 200 million this year, according to ABI.
"Tablet hardware sales from branded OEMs are likely to top US$85 billion this year," said ABI Senior Practice Director Jeff Orr in a prepared statement. "We have yet to reach the top of the tablet market, and, with many world regions just now starting to adopt, the best is yet to come."
Samsung and Apple will, combined, represent about 70 percent of the market this year.
In addition, Intel-based tablets are expected to make significant strides this year. As many as 40 million Intel-based devices are forecast to ship in 2014.
"Looking back over the past three years of the tablet boom, the leading vendor order has remained largely unchanged," said Orr. "Lenovo is the most obvious standout as it has executed tablet strategy well both in China and abroad."
Further details can be found in ABI's Media Tablets, Ultrabooks & eReaders Market Research.