67 Million Tablets Sold in 2011, 248.6 Million Expected in 2015

It looks like analysts really are enthusiastic about the chances of tablets, with Transparency having even issued an official announcement in which it makes predictions regarding the next four years.

Transparency Market Research believes that the level of annual tablet sales will grow by around 38.8 percent every year, on average.

By using the 67 million shipments of last year (2011) as the point of departure, that means that 248.6 million slates will be sold in 2015.

The assumption was made based on how massively the figure jumped from 2010, when only 17.8 million units were sold.

Apple's iPad is, naturally, considered the forerunner, which is understandable given its clear lead in terms of market share.

Of course, even Apple might want to pay close attention to its pricing policies, especially now that much cheaper slates have no trouble playing full HD videos.

On that note, people really should take a look at Amazon's recent, hilarious commercial, the one filmed in Costa Rica.

The Kindle Fire tablet basically started the trend for inexpensive tablets, and if prices really do go down all around, it is indeed possible for the figures from Transparency to become true.

Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, scheduled for release this autumn, will be the main catalyst and may get even those who already own a tablet to buy a new one, just to see how the new OS behaves.

Also, it will support both x86 and ARM processors, which means that Google's Android operating system will have a big fight on its hands.

The rate of adoption for Windows slates will depend on how fast software developers are in their app building, but with Microsoft's resources, there probably won't be any troubles there.

Nevertheless, 248.6 million is still a massive figure, since it implies that market saturation won't be attained for several years at least.