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Tablet shipments will rise 238% this year(Gulf News (United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Wide variety of solutions and intense battle among operating systems will continue to fuel the expansion Dubai Total shipments of tablets globally will rise more than 238 per cent this year to 66.6 million compared to 19.65 million last year, according to industry experts. "The remarkable expansion of the tablet market from 2010 to 2015 will be driven by three successive waves of growth," said Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research at IHS iSuppli. He said the first wave, which is hitting in 2010 and 2011, was created by the arrival of the iPad and the ensuing tsunami of demand for the device. The second wave, arriving in 2011 and 2012, will be propelled by a deluge of iPad competitors, particularly Android-based models. Apple to lose its shine The third wave, which will turn up in 2013, will consist of a flood of models based on the Windows operating system that will expand the reach of tablets into traditional computer markets. Media tablet shipments will grow to more than 202 million units in 2015, up from 17.4 million in 2010. Shipments of PC-type tablets i.e., tablets that have full PC functionality implemented via PC operating systems will climb to 39.3 million units in 2015, up from 2.3 million in 2010. In Middle East and Africa, less than a million tablets were sold last year and that figure is expected to more than double this year. While the iPad will lead annual tablet shipments through 2012, the increasing strength of media-tablet rivals combined with the advent of PC-type platforms will cause Apple to lose its majority of total unit shipments starting in 2013. The wide variety of solutions and intense battle among operating systems and types of platforms will continue to fuel the expansion of the tablet market in 2014 and 2015. "The mobility market in the UAE is advancing at a rapid rate with consumers looking for unprecedented computing power and performance with innovative designs and software," said Raed Hafez, General Manager for Motorola Mobility, Middle East and Africa. Android became the number one operating system globally in the fourth quarter in a very short time frame, he said and said that the 10.1-inch Xoom, which is powered by dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and runs on Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) will hit the UAE markets in April. Android has received a whole new user interface to take advantage of the abundant screen real estate. Applications can be dragged and dropped into shortcut groups, which are displayed in a carousel that looks like it's rotating in 3D. "We are very focused on Android compared to other vendors where they have other platforms also. We are one of the closest vendors with Google and we are the largest vendor in contributing codes back into Android OS. We are working very closely," he said. Strong demand "The marketplace for tablets is large and just barely penetrated, so we see a strong demand for the tablets in the region," Junaid Gul, Regional Sales Manager Middle East, ViewSonic, said. "Android's growing popularity among smartphone users could give tablets that run Google's system a leg up, particularly once Honeycomb is made available," he said. With most vendors concentrating on 10-inch tablets and below, Asus is following a different path. The Taiwanese firm is expected to launch its 12-inch Eee Pad which will run on a Windows 7 operating system in the UAE soon. "Tablet devices will eat into the netbook segment. But in some emerging markets where netbooks have not reached a larger scale, you can see a strong growth. But in matured markets, yes it is going to see a gradual fall in sales," George Su, regional director for Asus Technology in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, said. The mobility market in the UAE is advancing at a rapid rate with consumers looking for unprecedented computing power and performance with innovative designs and software. Raed Hafeze General Manager for Motorola Mobility, Middle East and Africa (c) 2011 Al Nisr Publishing LLC . All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |