According to a recent study completed by Transparency Market Research, tablet and smartphone sales skyrocketed in the last year and will continue to grow quickly as experts expect tablet and smartphone sales to jump to 248.6 million and 1,048 million units respectively, by 2015. 

Recent research suggests that form factor plays a crucial role in the adoption of tablets by consumers. Tablet devices with screen sizes ranging 8-10 inches and weighing one to two pounds were the most popular. They have become popular not only amongst the consumer segment of the market, but in businesses and media sectors as well.  Although Asian markets are still the biggest consumers of tablets, Americans are beginning to choose them over laptops as well. In 2010, 25 percent of Americans preferred tablets to laptops, and that number has grown as affordability and access has increased.

One major reason smartphone use has increased drastically is due to the applications and assistance they offer in the business world. Currently, 75 percent of total smartphone consumers are using their devices for both personal and business purposes. Companies love them too, as 65 percent of global SMBs encourage employee owned smartphones for official use. And why shouldn’t they? By allowing employees to use personal smartphones, companies can save money by not having to offer “company” phones and still integrate programs for employees to use via cheap affordable applications downloaded straight to the device at little or no cost.

And although some of these applications may be affordable for companies to develop, smartphone and tablet-related mobile applications are part of a growing industry that is estimated to reach $52 billion by 2016. While smartphones will be where a majority of application revenue is generated, tablet applications are expected to be one quarter of the market by 2016. In addition, as app stores on mobile and tablet devices become more popular, creating applications is slowly becoming a lucrative industry.

Smartphones and tablets are clearly the future and their recent affordability is only going to encourage the popularity this trend. The advantages of a smartphone over the alternative are quite clear, but even tablets are seemingly becoming more reasonable. Compared to a smaller laptop, a tablet is just as effective. With attachable slim keyboards, a touch screen and a compact body, tablets are becoming more interactive and business effective devices than laptops.

As the smartphone and tablet industries continue to grow, you can bet that prices will continue to decrease and by 2015, the current sales estimates could be easily surpassed.