Tablet Market Share 2013: Tablet Shipment Projections Lowered for 2013 and Beyond, Still 58 Percent Higher Than 2012's Figures Says IDC

Projections for tablet shipments have been lowered as the devices face stronger competition in the market.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker was "modestly lowered" for the rest of 2013 and beyond.

The IDC's reasons for the lowered projections are due to smartphones increasing their display sizes and the impending arrivals of wearable devices.

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The IDC forecasted tablet shipments to reach 227.4 million units for 2013, down from 229.3 million units. Despite the drop in projections, the IDC's figures are still up 57.7 percent from 2012's shipments.

The shipment figures are expected to increase in the incoming years with 407 million units by 2017.

"A lower than anticipated second quarter, hampered by a lack of major product announcements, means the second half of the year now becomes even more critical for a tablet market that has traditionally seen its highest shipment volume occur during the holiday season," said IDC's Research Director for Tablets Tom Mainelli. "We expect average selling prices to continue to compress as more mainstream vendors utilize low-cost components to better compete with the whitebox tablet vendors that continue to enjoy widespread traction in the market despite typically offering lower-quality products and poorer customer experiences."

The IDC noted that while North America and Western Europe are largely responsible for the large shipments of tablets, the regions might experience a slower shipment rate soon.

"Year-on-year growth is beginning to slow as the tablet market approaches early stages of maturity," said IDC's Research Analyst for the Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker's Jitesh Ubrani. "Much of the long-term growth will be driven by countries like China where projected growth rates will be consistently higher than the worldwide average."

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