IDC Says Tablet Shipments Will Overtake Total PC Shipments In 2015

A new report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) believes that shipments of tablets will eventually overtake that of PCs by the end of 2015 if data is measured on an annual basis. If looked at on a quarterly basis tablet PCs will drastically out-sell PCs in the last quarter of this year thanks to the festive season. In 2013 PC shipments, of desktop and portable PCs, will still be higher than tablets but the gap between the two is closing rapidly.

The figures make grim reading for PC vendors as PCs gradually become phased out of the overall market. IDC do however imply there is room for growth in the portable PC market which is certainly a way for PC vendors to adapt and survive. Tablet PCs will continue their relentless growth alongside smartphones, both of which are growing rapidly at the expense of PCs. Only desktop PCs will decline between now and 2017. IDC claims the majority of smartphones and tablets worldwide come from the sub $350 tablet and smartphone segments.

Tablet PCs aren’t insulated from the onslaught of smartphones either as IDC expect larger smartphones with 5+ inch displays, commonly referred to as Phablets, to eat into the market share of 7 and 8 inch tablet devices. This will contribute to a slowing of the rate of overall tablet growth. Over the next 12-18 months this “cannibalisation” of small tablet market share by large smartphones will become more evidence according to IDC. IDC expects the overall market to increase by 58.1% between now and 2017 with the average selling price of devices falling from $462 to $323.

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