Although the global tablet business certainly didn’t tank in 2014, sales were underwhelming in the eyes of many market analysts.
Auspiciously, according to the latest forecasts from ABI Research, tablet growth is expected to resume and continue over the next 5 years with a forecast of nearly 290 million tablet shipments in 2019.
With 2014 now in the rear view mirror, “many of the world’s tablet vendors are looking forward to opportunities in 2015 and are hoping to avoid a repeat of lackluster 2014 results,” ABI says.
Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Google are expected to show year-over-year declines in branded tablet unit volume, while Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Microsoft, and Samsung should end higher in calendar year 2014.
The tablet outlook for 2015 paints a better picture for OEMs, ABI deduces, There are several factors that will lead worldwide branded shipments to grow 16% year-over-year to 194 million. They include:
- Broader tablet adoption by businesses for the “clipboard workforce”
- Clearer, tiered product portfolios from leading OEMs
- Benefits-oriented marketing messaging by vendors to reach laggard adopters in the most mature market economies
To learn more, check out ABI’s Media Tablets, Ultrabooks & eReaders Market Research here.
