Mark Kasperowicz, Alcoa Inc.
By the end of 2010, 11 million tablets, led by Apple’s aluminum backed iPad, are expected to be sold. This is three times the estimate that ABI Research made just six months ago.
According to ABI Research Principal Analyst Jeff Orr, the forecast of 11 million media tablet shipments in 2010 is based both on the broader availability of the iPad and on the delayed introduction of competing products.
The global recession, implementation of the most suitable operating system, and the challenge of matching the iPad's user experience have all caused delays on a number of competing tablets that were expected to have been launched by now.
Orr suggests that the media tablet segment is still short of a mass market. Much depends on Apple's distribution reach and the relative success of its eventual competitors. He also says that a market size justifying that term probably won't be reached before 2013.
