Tablet market to reach 383.3 million units by 2017

NPD DisplaySearch has conducted an in-depth analysis of the tablet market and found that the incredible demand for tablet computers will boost the figures to unexpected heights.

According to the research company’s Tablet Quarterly report, shipments of tablet PCs are expected to grow from 72.7 million units in 2011 to 383.3 million by 2017—amazing numbers.

The forecast is based on the solid growth of a mature market, along with accelerated growth in emerging markets, which are expected to account for up to 46% of total shipments by 2017. Currently, emerging markets account for 36% of the global market share.

Aakash, from India, is among the new players of the tablet industry, entering the already hot competition. “Penetration rates of tablet PCs in China and the Asia–Pacific area are leading the emerging market regions, but Brazil, India, Russia and other countries, are becoming bigger forces on the worldwide scene as prices come down and distribution channels expand. Additionally, as countries such as Turkey move to overhaul their entire education systems through efforts such as their FATIH project, tablet PCs are also taking on a bigger role outside of the home as well,” NPD DisplayResearch reports.

If we add this information to what we already know from other research companies, such as Good Technology, CIRP, or Strategy Analytics, we find that all signs are pointing towards tablets entering into more households than ever imagined.

Although the myth surrounding the tablet is that they don’t really leave the living room, there are strong signals coming from everywhere that tablet PCs, like the iPad, can become productivity tools.

It is true that tablets are tools for  information storage right now, as the recent survey just underlined, but a significant percentage of IT pros are using their iPads as their work tools.

With the popularity of the iPad and other tablets, such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the ball is now in the hands of the developers and the designers.

For instance, Apple has created one of the most powerful publishing tools—iBooks Author—and demonstrated once again that the iPad is not restricted to the living room, but has its place in education too. By reforming the textbook concept, it highlighted the path creative minds can walk.

The same goes for the Kindle Fire or the Galaxy Tab. With competition getting strong, as each manufacturer chases the biggest market share, NPD DisplaySearch concludes that this will push down the price of the devices and make them more affordable.

As the tablet industry gets stronger, the demand for high-quality products will influence the market share of key players. Apple has set the benchmark, and consumers will compare every new release with the iPad.

What NPD DisplaySearch forecasts is that in the upcoming quarters, resolutions and pixel densities of panels will increase, resulting in market segmentation of premium and value categories. Pixel densities of 200–300 ppi are forecast to hit 30% of units in 2012, and almost 48% by 2017.