Tablets with 10-inch screens will struggle to compete against hybrid models for the first time, as Android becomes the dominant leader of the tablet market, an analyst firm has suggested.
According to Gartner, about 90% of the worldwide ultra mobile market is tablets, while notebook devices account for approximately 8%, followed by hybrid devices with 2%.
By 2017, hybrid shipments will increase to 20-25% as manufacturers lower future prices and improve designs.
The hybrid is a combination of a tablet and laptop computer, which has a removable screen that turns into a tablet when separated.
Roberta Cozza, a research director at Gartner, told CBR: "The hybrid share of the market is still small, however, from this year and 2015, it will increase because prices will come down and there will be more solid designs that really respond to user needs," she explained.
"Hybrids will put pressure on the 10-inch tablet rather than the smaller models. I don’t think we’ve seen any peak for the smaller tablets but we’ll definitely see a peak for the bigger ones."
Gartner also revealed worldwide tablet sales jumped 68% to 195.4 million in 2013, driven by a higher demand for cheaper smaller screen tablets.
Android-based tablets accounted for 62% of sales, up from 46% in 2012, while Apple’s share of the market dropped to 36% from 52%, even though sales of the iPad increased by 14.5% to 70.4 million.
Gartner said increased demand for smaller, higher-quality and low-cost tablets from big vendors had eaten into Apple’s market share.
Cozza also blamed the influx of ‘white box’ vendors, which sold about 60 million unbranded Android tablets last year.
"The ‘white box’ brands are very popular in the emerging markets, so these are local players that really play on price, and they point pressure on brands that want to compete in emerging markets," she explained.
It was also in 2013 that 10-inch tablets, largely from Apple, saw their peak.
"More people are just keeping their 10-inch tablets, which already offer a very good experience. How they are refreshing them is through software upgrades," said Cozza.
"Developers also find it easier to optimise tablet applications for smaller screens on Android because it’s easier to scale up an application that they have already owned on a smartphone."
Gatner said Apple still sells the most tablets as Android’s market share is made up by tablets from many different vendors. Apple’s 35% market share was almost double that of its closest rival Samsung, which saw its tablet sales quadruple to 37 million.
