Says who? Says IDC, a research firm tracking the market of tablet computers globally.
Although tablets have been one of the hottest items in tech in recent years, growth is 'likely' to slow in the coming years.
IDC said global tablet sales are expected to hit 221.2 million units this year, up 53.5% from last year but below IDC's latest forecast of 227 million. It said tablet sales are still growing but the pace is slowing.
For 2014, the firm projects growth of 22.2% to a total of 270.5 million units and single-digit growth by 2017.
"In some markets consumers are already making the choice to buy a large smartphone rather than buying a small tablet, and as a result we've lowered our long-term forecast," said IDC analyst Tom Mainelli.
Meanwhile, in mature markets like the US where tablets have been shipping in large volumes since 2010 and are already well established, we're less concerned about big phones cannibalizing shipments and more worried about market saturation.
IDC said it is watching the mix of small versus large tablets.
While the market has trended toward small tablets over the last 24 months, the rise of large phones could push consumers back toward larger tablets -- the difference between a 6-inch smartphone and a 7-inch tablet isn't great enough to warrant purchasing both.
IDC has previously said it expects tablet sales to outpace that of traditional computers by 2015. Source: AFP
TheGreenMechanics: Losing steam or not, tablet computers will be here to stay. If they can be powerful enough to be able to do most things the traditional laptops do, I will consign my old trusty PC and notebook to the 'substitute bench'.
I'd like the tablet to be my workhorse.
Although tablets have been one of the hottest items in tech in recent years, growth is 'likely' to slow in the coming years.
My iPad: I prefer the bigger 9.7-inch full sized ipad to its 8-inch mini variant
IDC said global tablet sales are expected to hit 221.2 million units this year, up 53.5% from last year but below IDC's latest forecast of 227 million. It said tablet sales are still growing but the pace is slowing.
For 2014, the firm projects growth of 22.2% to a total of 270.5 million units and single-digit growth by 2017.
"In some markets consumers are already making the choice to buy a large smartphone rather than buying a small tablet, and as a result we've lowered our long-term forecast," said IDC analyst Tom Mainelli.
Meanwhile, in mature markets like the US where tablets have been shipping in large volumes since 2010 and are already well established, we're less concerned about big phones cannibalizing shipments and more worried about market saturation.
IDC said it is watching the mix of small versus large tablets.
While the market has trended toward small tablets over the last 24 months, the rise of large phones could push consumers back toward larger tablets -- the difference between a 6-inch smartphone and a 7-inch tablet isn't great enough to warrant purchasing both.
IDC has previously said it expects tablet sales to outpace that of traditional computers by 2015. Source: AFP
TheGreenMechanics: Losing steam or not, tablet computers will be here to stay. If they can be powerful enough to be able to do most things the traditional laptops do, I will consign my old trusty PC and notebook to the 'substitute bench'.
I'd like the tablet to be my workhorse.
