IDC: Tablets to Surpass PCs by 2015

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According to IDC WW 2013 tablet shipments will reach 229.3 million units with 58.7% growth, up from 144.5m for 2012-- beating portable PC shipments for the year, with the PC market showing negative growth for the second consecutive year.

As a result the analyst forecasts tablet shipments will beat the entire PC market (covering portables and desktops) by 2015, since consumers continue to prefer purchasing tablets to deal with tasks such as web access, social media, emails and any number of apps.

IDC PCs vs Tablets

"What started as a sign of tough economic times has quickly shifted to a change in the global computing paradigm with mobile being the primary benefactor," IDC remarks. "Tablets surpassing portables in 2013, and total PCs in 2015, marks a significant change in consumer attitudes about compute devices and the applications and ecosystems that power them... for many consumers, a tablet is a simple and elegant solution for core use cases that were previously addressed by the PC."

While Apple is the chief driver behind the tablet revolution, low-cost Android devices also fuel the current market expansion. IDC expects the global 2013 tablet average selling price (ASP) to drop by -10.8% to $381, while PC ASPs should double to $635.

A further shift in the tablet market is screen sizes-- while the iPad's 9.7-inch display was thought of as the "just right" for tablets, smaller Android devices (7-8-inch) gained plenty of market traction, leading to Apple releasing the iPad mini in Q4 2012.

IDC reports tablets with 8-inch (or smaller) displays make 55% of the 2013 market, a figure expected to grow to 57% by 2017. Devices with 8-11-inch displays total 43% of the 2013 market before dropping to 37% in 2017, while 11-inch+ devices should grow from 2% in 2013 to 6% by 2017.

Go IDC Forecasts WW Tablet Shipments to Surpass Portable PCs in 2013