7.6 Million Tablets Will Be Sold in 2010, Says IDC

Until late last year, the two market segments that were expected to grow the most during 2010 were those of netbooks and e-readers. Later on, Apple launched the iPad, which, despite mixed review, has already sold over one million units. Competing products are now expected to debut in packs at Computex. Considering this, it became quite difficult not to assume that slates would end up becoming an important part of PC makers' strategies. IDC decided to offer a basis for such strategies through its forecast dealing with media-tablet sales in the 2010-2014 period.

IDC believes that slate shipments will amount to 7.6 million in 2010. After that, annual growth will be of 57.4%, which means that, by 2014, the market will have reached 46 million. A media tablet is defined as an ARM-based 7- to 12-inch slate form-factor device, with a color touchscreen and lightweight operating system (Apple OS, Android OS, etc.) The forecast makes a clear distinction between these electronics and Tablet PCs, x86-based slates with full PC operating systems.

"These are early days for media tablets, an altogether new device category that takes its place between smartphones and portable PCs. IDC expects consumer demand for media tablets to be strongly driven by the number and variety of compatible third-party apps for content and services," Susan Kevorkian, program director, Digital Marketplace: Mobile Media & Entertainment, noted.

"The availability of apps unique to media tablets and that differentiate the experience of using one compared with a PC or smartphone will be crucial for driving consumer demand. As the category matures and more media tablet-optimized apps become available, IDC expects that media tablets will evolve beyond nice-to-have devices and become necessities for many consumers."

IDC mentions that media tablets will eventually become suitable tools for enterprise users, even though they are, at present, primarily advertised as entertainment devices.