It is no secret that tablet sales are on a meteoric rise, while sales of PCs are dropping off the radar. Right now is a great time to be in either the laptop/notebook or the tablet business. No too long ago owning a tablet was like owning a giant smartphone without the calling capabilities. Laptops were like taking your PC with you, but both speed and overall performance suffered due to slow processors and lack of memory. Thank heavens, this is no longer the case – laptops and notebooks are every bit as powerful, or even more so, than any PC you can purchase. Tablets are to the point where the best tablets out there can match up with notebooks. As we become a more mobile society, our thirst for high-end smartphones and tablets continues to grow, with Apple and Samsung battling it out for first place.
According to Digitimes, in the second quarter of 2014 (April, May, June), there will be 61.42 million tablets shipped globally – an increase of 4.9-percent over the first quarter of 2014 and an increase of 30.9-percent over the second quarter last year. The 61.42 million tablets will consist of 13.5 million iPads, 24.62 million non-Apple tablets and ‘white box’ vendors will account for remaining 23.3 million units.
Apple still leads the sales pack with 22-percent of second quarter shipments, closely followed by their archrival, Samsung, with 20-percent of sales. Asustek Computer will be at 6.3-percent, Lenovo at a close 6.1-percent, and Acer bringing up the rear at 1.7-percent. Android models still dominate the tablet scene with 58.9-percent of the shipments. Apple’s iOS follows at 35.4-percent, and Windows trails in third place at 5.7-percent.
The most popular screen sizes comes as no surprise – the 7-inch models make up 21.7-percent of all tablet shipments, 7.9-inch at 15.4-percent, 8.0 – 8.9-inch are at 18.4-percent, 9.0 – 9.9-inch fall in at 20.7-percent, 10.0 – 10.9-inch tablets account for 21.7-percent, and 11-inch and above are only 2.1-percent of tablet shipments.
Just in case you are curious, as far as manufacturers go; the Taiwan-based ODMs/OEMs will ship 20.6 million tablets grabbing 54-percent of the global market. No surprise that Foxconn Electronics is the largest manufacturer accounting for 48.6-percent of the shipments, with Pegatron making 24.9-percent, Quanta Computer producing 14-percent, Compal Electronics at 8.1-percent and Wistron in last place with 4.4-percent.
Samsung and Apple continue to battle for tablet supremacy, with Samsung making great strides over the past year, and poised to possibly take the top spot by the end of 2014. With their new ‘Pro’ line of tablets, Apple certainly does not reign in the specifications department. Please let us know on our Google+ Page what your favorite brand of tablet is and why – and what do you think the idea size tablet is…7-inch or larger…as always, we would love to hear from you.