Here Comes The Tabs: Android, iPad 150M Crescendo
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Asia – Pacific region will account for over 52 million of devices bought – but Apple will no longer rule the tabs roost.

  

Tablets on ‘lite’ OS including the Samsung Galaxy Tab and BlackBerry’s PlayBook are on the rise, if predictions by business analysts, Ovum, are to be believed.  The popularity of the iPad will continue, although to a lesser degree.

The tablets market, which was first instigated by Apple’s instalment of the iPad in March last year, which sold over 12 million units worldwide, has witnessed massive growth in consumer demand for the portable devices.

However, Smartphone sales won’t suffer at the hands of the tabs ascension but rather look set to complement each other, fuelling further demand, according to the analysts.   

The lites which include Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and RIM’s BlackBerry Tablet OS look set to expereince phenomenal growth globally, forecasted to reach a crescendo of 150 million units bought by 2015.   

Australia will also be privy to tabs popularity with Asia-Pacific conumers predicted to account for over one in three (35 percent) of all devices sold worlwide, say analysts at Ovum.

 “This huge growth in shipments will be dominated by tablet-style technologies such as the iPad and will mainly be driven by consumers buying devices to complement their smartphones.”

This will either be as a ‘third device’ where there is a
high-penetration PCs or the primary computing device where there is
low-penetration,’ according to Tony Cripps, Ovum’s principal analyst.

This reflects earlier views voiced by JB Hi Fi’s Marketing guru, Scott Browning who last year noted “consumers are buying connectivity in devices to the point that products without connectivity are struggling to sell.” 

 

“Shipments of the tablet and other ‘lite’ OS devices will not dramatically erode the growing demand for smartphones. This is especially pertinent given their obvious similarity in hardware and software technology.”

Late last year, Samsung Australia said they were struggling to keep up with demand for their 7-inch Galaxy Tab tablet which runs on Android, despite a $999 price tag.

However, Apple’s 90 percent market dominance could be on the wane.  

Competing OS including Google’s Android are forecast to take the lead,
accounting for 36% of the market, while others including RIM’s
Blackberry Tablet OS, HP’s webOS all taking a bigger slice out of
Apple’s hegemony, by 2015.

“We expect this market share to drop to 35% and Google’s market
share to rise to 36%. Other software platforms, such as RIM’s Blackberry
Tablet OS and HP’s webOS, will find some success but between them all
they will only account for 29% of the market.”