The tablet PC market approaches its third anniversary showing increased shipments, but mixed success, according to In-Stat, a market research firm.
The tablet PC market approaches its third anniversary showing increased shipments, but mixed success, according to In-Stat , a market research firm. The report says that shipments have yet to reach the lofty heights that some backers predicted upon launch, but notes the next few years will show some significant growth. It predicts the worldwide market will rise from $1.2 billion in 2004 to $5.4 billion in 2009. Tablet PCs refer to devices that run Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system.
“Broad horizontal corporate markets should start to make an impact on the market in 2005, as average selling prices fall well below $2,000,” says Brian O’Rourke, In-Stat analyst. “A combination of greater tablet PC software availability and large form factors that directly address the corporate market should help tablet PC sales.”
Other findings of the report show that vertical markets, such as healthcare, insurance, and sales force automation, continued to drive tablet PC shipments in 2004. It also names Acer, Fujitsu, HP, Motion Computing, and Toshiba as leading vendors in the field, and predicts that the availability of an integrated, next-generation tablet PC operating system in Microsoft’s Longhorn OS would significantly improve tablet PC sales. The report analysis also notes that Microsoft’s recently announced Ultra Mobile 2007 portable PC form factor could have a significant positive impact on future tablet PC shipments.
Click here from more information on the study .
—Jeanine Katzel, senior editor, Control Engineering, [email protected]
