No Longer Shall Tablets Be Stuck in Two Sizes from 2012

So far, tablets have mostly hanged on to the 7-inch and 10.1-inch form factors, but 2012 may finally see some more options cropping up.

Reports have been coming in about the tablet market and what may or may not happen to it next year.

The general consensus is that it will keep growing and amassing customers, even as Ultrabooks try to differentiate the PC segment from that of slates.

Whether or not that is successful is irrelevant to the latest rumor that Digitimes published.

The report deals with the tablet form factors that are, were and shall be (or will continue to be), starting 2012.

Not that the larger variety of sizes will be up and ready to be lauded from the first day of next year of course.

It will be a gradual process, but as more and more of 2012 comes and goes, the list of tablet screen dimensions will increase.

We already said that Samsung may be of a mind to unleash an 11.6-inch Galaxy Tab in February.

This form factor is just one of five: by the end of next year, there should be the 7-inch and 10/10.1-inch models, but also 8.9-inch, 9.7-inch and the aforementioned 11.6-inch.

Not that such devices are unheard of, but they are definitely not common at all.

If any good comes of this, one thing the wider design range will allow is for a smaller chance of patent wars starting up (or succeeding if they do emerge).

We already saw all the global back and forth that Apple and Samsung have been engaged in, with particularly heated fights in Germany and Australia.

In related news, the next batch of tablets will have better screens: up to 1,920 x 1200 pixels and, in the iPad 3's case, 2048 by 1536. Total 2012 sales levels will reach over 95 million.