IDC has made public its worldwide quarterly tablet tracker

Dec 4, 2013 09:45 GMT  ·  By

Tablets shipments have been experiencing a 50% growth in 2013 compared to last year, but new statistics posted by research firm IDC reveal that the increase is likely to get sluggish as we near 2017.

IDC has also lowered its expectations for tablet shipments in 2013, with numbers now being set at 221.3 million units, down from the previous 227.4 million units.

The firm has revised its numbers for 2017 as well, lowering expectations from 407 million units to 386.3 million units. The key to understanding the situation appears to be the emergence of small-framed tablets.

At the moment, it appears consumers have developed a taste for slates like the iPad Mini or Nexus 7, but with more and more smartphones featuring larger screens, users could easily shift their focus on larger slates. Statement to this is how well the iPad Air was received by people everywhere.

“The market has trended toward small tablets in a big way over the last 24 months, but the rise of large phones could well push consumer back towards larger tablets as the difference between a 6-inch smartphone and a 7-inch tablet isn’t great enough to warrant purchasing both,” says IDC.

The research also reveals that Android continues to hold the grip over the larger share of the market with 60.8%. That’s a growth of 12.8% from the previous year.

On the other hand, the iOS experienced a down fall from 45.6% in 2012 to 35% this year. But both operating systems are forecasted to experience decrease by 2017.

What about Microsoft and its latest batch of Windows 8 powered machines? Redmond barely managed to snatch 3.4% off tablet market for 2013.

“Windows-based tablets are not expected to steal share from tablets running iOS and Android until the latter part of the forecast.” Microsoft is expected to manage to grab 10.2% marketshare by 2017. Will customers finally start minding the new Bay Trail based models?