Tablet market goes mainstream: report

GLOBAL research shows tablets are now the must have device for managing our lifestyles.

Must have ... tablet ownership is booming with people buying up smaller, cheaper tablets

TABLETS have gone from a luxury want to a “must have” for many people, a global report into technology ownership reveals.

Gartner’s worldwide tablet sales report shows tablet ownership grew by 68 per cent last year, with smaller screen tablets driving the push for people to constantly be connected.

Gartner research director Roberta Cozza said in the recent report that the past year of tablet growth shows the devices had become a “mainstream phenomenon”.

Forrester Research principal analyst Ted Schadler released data during his keynote speech at CeBIT technology conference in Germany this week which shows how tablets have become the tool of choice for managing our lifestyle.

The most popular usages for tablets are playing games, social networking, checking the weather, shopping, reading news and books, listening to music and watching video.

While Apple dominated in the early stages of the tablet explosion, consumers are increasingly becoming tablet owners with cheaper Android devices.

Gartner figures show that in 2012, Apple’s tablets had 52.8 market share against 45.8 for Android, with Microsoft and others splitting the remaining 1.3 per cent.

But in 2013, the market share had swung to Android’s favour, with it having 61.9 per cent of the market ahead of 36 per cent for Apple tablets and Microsoft growing to 2.1 per cent.

With the Android tablet market fragmented across manufacturers, when you look at the tablet market by vendor Apple still has the lead over its chief rival Samsung although the gap is closing.

The Gartner report shows that in 2012, Apple’s share of the sales of tablets was 52.8 per cent ahead of Samsung on 7.4 per cent.

But in 2013, Apple’s share of tablet sales by vendor had dropped to 36 per cent ahead of Samsung on 19 per cent.

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