With products like the Apple iPad and the Amazon Kindle Fire, the tablet PC market has been on a tear. Right about now you’re asking yourself, “How much of a tear?” How about year-to-year growth of 155 percent?!? That’s the astonishing rise in tablet shipments from Q4 2010 to Q4 2011. Considering that the economy isn’t exactly healthy, that kind of growth is extraordinary. Read on for more dazzling figures from a top research firm.
According to IDC:
Worldwide media tablet shipments into sales channels rose by 56.1% on a sequential basis in the fourth calendar quarter of 2011 (4Q11) to 28.2 million units worldwide, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker. That represents an increase of 155% from the fourth quarter of 2010. The market experienced stronger-than-expected growth across many regions and at many price points, leading to a full-year 2011 total of 68.7 million units. Based upon the markets’ strong 2011 finish, and the clear demand expected in 2012, IDC has increased its 2012 forecast to 106.1 million units, up from its previous forecast of 87.7 million units.
Q4 is significant since that’s when the majority of consumer electronics sales take place. (Something about a large man dressed in red delivering presents to people for religious and commercial purposes.) The tablet market is undoubtedly booming and right now there’s still only one dominant player: Apple. Amazon is off to a fine start with the Kindle Fire and many pundits expect 2012 to be the year Google Android tablets finally start to matter. With all of that in mind, it’s crazy that the explosive growth of the tablet PC market will continue.
What do you make of the tablet-computing boom? How do you think the landscape will change in 2012? Will Android start to matter this year? Will Amazon follow up the Kindle Fire with an even more successful product? Peer into your crystal ball and predict the future of tablet computing!
[Via: IDC]
Article source: http://www.padvance.com/story/tablet-pc-shipments-more-than-double-in-q4-2011
