Global tablet shipments are expected to more than triple in 2011, rising to 57.6 million units, up from 17.1 million in 2010. Although iSuppli predicts that Apple will retain market dominance with 70.4% share of tablet shipments next year, the company will face mounting competition from new rivals producing consumption tablets, including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Co., Research in Motion Ltd., Dell Inc. and dozens of other companies. But for now, Apple is expected to dominate tablet sales for the next two years.
“IHS believes that as these iPad competitors turn their focus to tablets, the demand for netbook and notebook displays will soften,” said Joe Abelson, vice president of displays at IHS, in the press release. “And because the tablet market is so new and volumes are unpredictable, display suppliers will be forced to gamble production capacity on the unrealistically high projections of their tablet customers. With different panel sizes and specs in play, the industry should expect to see significant inventory shortages and excesses to occur at the SKU level throughout 2011, potentially accompanied by heavy discounting or scrapping of unused displays.”
Such disruption should not come as a surprise given the revolutionary impact of the iPad on the global technology market. Not since the dawn of television in the 1950s has another electronic device so effortlessly captured the hearts, minds and discretionary spending of so many consumers, says iSuppli.
The tablet form factor once was dismissed by pundits as passing fancy and earlier models failed to garner interest among consumers. But the iPad changed everything. And now the device, along with other tablets, are lining up as standard equipment for virtually any application, from education and healthcare, to government and the military, to retail sales and, of course, the living room.
Source:iSuppli
MacDailyNews Take: Economies of scale.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Maybe if they didn’t strain so much,
they wouldn’t put out so much crap…
Not to worry, there won’t be any reorders from the wannabes.
This is great for apple.
Demand will spike for displays and display producers will have to ramp up product to meet that demand. But just as they do the wannabes will fail and with them the demand
This will leave lots of displays for apple to pick and choose from at a reduced cost
“The tablet form factor once was dismissed by pundits as passing fancy and earlier models failed to garner interest among consumers. But the iPad changed everything.”
Because all of the earlier tablets were running some form of desktop-paradigm crapware as an OS. That, and the fact there are too many EC companies that aren’t vertically integrated (i.e.: ‘too many cooks in the kitchen’).
Apple makes the whole enchilada and can ensure an excellent customer experience.
To quote Orson Welles, when he was pitching for Paul Masson, “We’ll sell no wine before its time.”
Consumers don’t want tablets. They want iPads.
“… the company will face mounting competition from new rivals producing consumption tablets”
IHS seem desperate to avoid referring to them as computers. By calling them ‘consumption tablets’ they can conveniently exclude iPads from general computer sales figures and therefore make all the other manufacturer’s sales figures look a little more attractive.
But the simple fact is that most people who buy iPads use them instead of a laptop or netbook. However the analysts claim that it’s not a computer, even though people buy them to do what computers do.
In the long run, it’s not a big deal, just a pathetic bit of manipulation. Apple are selling greater numbers of laptops and desktops than ever before, but are also totally dominating an additional new category too. Whichever way analysts try to spin it, Apple is making serious money out of the computer industry. That is something that very few others can claim.
The wannabes are a blight on the iScreen of life!
@ Radius
You are right sir!… even though many consumers don’t know that they want them – yet.