Tablet shipments beat netbook shipments for the first time in Q2 2011, according to ABI Research-- with tablet shipments reaching 13.6M units, compared to 7.3M netbooks.
The analyst says Q1 2011 netbook shipments reach 8.4M, while tablet units number 6.4M.
“This is a trend that we do not expect will reverse,” ABI says, describing the shift in shipment numbers as "changing of leadership for the most interesting device type," rather than direct market cannibalisation.
Apple continues dominating the tablet market-- taking over 68% of Q2 2011 tablet shipments.
However, netbooks do retain one advantage over tablets-- pricing-- and will retain customer interest in developing markets for this reason.
The analyst forecasts 2011 netbook shipments will total 32M, while tablets will reach 60M units.
