According to a new report from NPD Group, global tablet PC demand is slowing and shipments are forecast to grow by just 2 percent year-over-year in 2014.
The NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report notes that 254 million tablet PC units will ship by year’s end (less than the 14 percent growth NPD DisplaySearch previously forecast).
The report summary indicates that the underlying growth will chiefly be driven by replacement cycles.
Looking forward, tablet PC demand will continue to grow by single digits through 2018.
“Leading brands are changing their business plans, because the rapid growth that tablet PC demand has experienced over the past several years is ending,” said Hisakazu Torii, vice president of smart application research at NPD DisplaySearch.
“We can expect to see more competitive overlap among display sizes for tablet PCs, notebook PCs, and smartphones, as Apple has announced its new iPhone 6 Plus with an increased screen size of 5.5 inches and Microsoft has introduced its new Surface Pro 3 models with 12-inch screens,” Torii adds.
