TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - International Data Corporation (IDC) research firm, predicted that the number of tablet sales in 2013 will grow by 53.5 percent compared to last year. In total, the number of tablet sales in 2013 is recorded at 221.3 million units.
Meanwhile, Android continues to dominate the market with a 60.8 percent market share, followed by iOS with 35 percent, Windows at 3.4 percent and other operating systems at 0.8 percent.
However, the growth of tablet sales is predicted to slow down in 2014 with only a 22 percent increase with a total of sales predicted to reach 270 million units. In another four years, the growth rate is expected to went even lower to a one digit percentage with a total sales predicted to reach 386.3 million units.
Tom Mainelly, IDC Research Director for tablets, said that in several markets, consumers prefer smartphones with larger screen to tablets.
"As a result, we've lowered our long-term forecast," he said last Thursday.
Nevertheless, IDC projected that Android tablet will maintain its domination over the market. In 2012, Android tablet market share has increased up to 52 percent, and predicted to climb further up to 58.8 percent in 2017.
The prediction was based on the current trends. Apple's market share will continue to decrease due to its expensive price, while Microsoft will keep growing because it will penetrate corporate consumers as their main customers.
NUR ROCHMI | FORBES