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IDontUseTheForumSoWhyAmIForcedToMakeANickname
I can't help but envision tablets as disposable devices much like phones. And ...
iniewski
Good point Bert...I keep my iPad on a coffee table to check the news, Google ...
Tablet sales to outpace notebooks
Dylan McGrath
1/11/2013 3:27 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO—More than 240 million tablet PCs are expected to ship in 2013, easily exceeding the 207 million notebook PCs projected to ship during the year, according to market research firm NPD Group DisplaySearch.
Shifting market dynamics in the tablet market—which has been dominated by Apple Inc. since the original iPad was launched in 2010—are leading to a greater variety of choices for consumers. Tablet shipments are projected to grow 64 percent in 2013 compared to 2012, DisplaySearch (Santa Clara, Calif.) said.
DisplaySearch projects that tablets will continue to outsell notebooks for the next few years. By 2017, the firm expects that the number of tablets sold will exceed the number of notebooks sold by nearly three to one.
DisplaySearch also predicts that in 2013 a new class of smaller tablets will take over the market lead from the 10-inch tablets such as the iPad that have dominated the market for the past two years. Tablets with screen sizes of 7 to 8 inches are expected to account for about 45 percent of the tablet market—roughly 108 million units—this year. Tablets with screen sizes of about 10 inches are expected to account for about 17 percent of the market, or about 41 million units, according to the firm.
Next: China rising
Shifting market dynamics in the tablet market—which has been dominated by Apple Inc. since the original iPad was launched in 2010—are leading to a greater variety of choices for consumers. Tablet shipments are projected to grow 64 percent in 2013 compared to 2012, DisplaySearch (Santa Clara, Calif.) said.
DisplaySearch projects that tablets will continue to outsell notebooks for the next few years. By 2017, the firm expects that the number of tablets sold will exceed the number of notebooks sold by nearly three to one.
DisplaySearch also predicts that in 2013 a new class of smaller tablets will take over the market lead from the 10-inch tablets such as the iPad that have dominated the market for the past two years. Tablets with screen sizes of 7 to 8 inches are expected to account for about 45 percent of the tablet market—roughly 108 million units—this year. Tablets with screen sizes of about 10 inches are expected to account for about 17 percent of the market, or about 41 million units, according to the firm.
Next: China rising
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daleste
1/12/2013 2:32 PM EST
This is not surprising. I expect the notebooks to have some price pressure to try to maintain their volume.
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yalanand
1/12/2013 11:55 PM EST
@daleste, do you think companies have flexibility to reduce the price of the notebook. Aren't they already selling these notebooks at low profit margins ?
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rick.merritt
1/12/2013 3:34 PM EST
Amazing how fast things are changing.
I would love to hear some commentary about the extent to which tablet growth is or isn't limiting notebook growth, which has been the booming slice of the PC market to date.
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yalanand
1/12/2013 11:26 PM EST
@rick, true things are chaning very fast. I remember when Apple released first iPad people were skeptical about the success of iPad's. No body thought iPad will hamper the growth of the notebook and desktop.
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yalanand
1/12/2013 11:25 PM EST
I am more optimistic about ultra book because ultrabook can be easily converted into a tablet. Disadvantage of tablet is typing is pretty difficult in tablet since it doesnt have external keyboard.
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jeffreyrdiamond
1/14/2013 3:48 PM EST
Of course you can get a keyboard for your tablet. Right now I'm using an external mouse, keyboard, and monitor with my laptop so I can be productive. If I swapped the laptop with an iPad, there'd be no difference at all.
I see this more about being a massive software shift than a hardware for factor, like when people moved from text based computers to GUIs. The Wintel monopoly simply delayed the software shift, forcing devices to do an end around the PC world.
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selinz
1/14/2013 10:55 AM EST
This will ultimately drive down the cost of notebooks which are already scraping below $300 at entry point.
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iniewski
1/14/2013 1:28 PM EST
How do people do any real work on tablets???
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D-FlipFlop
1/14/2013 1:42 PM EST
They probably don't :). Tablets seem to be mainly for content consumption. If someone is looking to get real work done, then probably Windows RT or 8 tablets/ultra books are the devices to go for.
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help.fulguy
1/14/2013 2:05 PM EST
Thanks Dylan for copying a report and making it into a news article. These are the same guys who said Netbooks will rule the world over notebook. Where did the Netbooks go? Dont waste the readers time. How about an article that intrigues reader's mind instead of this junk
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dylan.mcgrath
1/14/2013 2:32 PM EST
@help.fulguy- thanks as always for your advice.
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Bert22306
1/14/2013 8:26 PM EST
I think that my new mantra, on this subject of tablets, is that they are replacing printed media, not PCs. Instead of having the paper delivered to your door every day, you use the tablet. Printed magazines are also talking along these lines, just as EE Times has done.
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iniewski
1/15/2013 10:30 AM EST
Good point Bert...I keep my iPad on a coffee table to check the news, Google some things that come to mind and occasionally check email...all consumer activities...for work I go upstairs and have a real computer and real screen...so my iPad has nothing to do with my PC, viewing the tablet as a paper replacement is a good mental framing for this topic...Kris
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IDontUseTheForumSoWhyAmIForcedToMakeANickname
1/15/2013 2:46 PM EST
I can't help but envision tablets as disposable devices much like phones. And by that, I mean they are designed to be replaced after 2~3 years ... sign up for a 3 year data plan and we'll give you a FREE tablet. Which is needed since (generally) nothing can be upgraded on them.
D-FlipFlop has an interesting viewpoint ... in that tablets are used mainly for content consumption. How true that is. Sure you can add a monitor/KB/mouse, but that's just trying to emulate a desktop and not the portability of a laptop.
The biggest advantage I see with laptops over tablets is the inclusion of a serial port. Pretty much all of the equipment I interface with uses some sort of serial communications to configure, diagnose and/or monitor outputs. Until tablets can overcome this deficiency, netbooks/laptops will still get my dollar votes.
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