It seems that every now and then we hear about a company launching a new tablet. This is great since this not only helps to further the technology, but gives customers more options to choose from. However it seems that in 2014, we can expect tablet sales to stall. This is according to a recent report from the IDC which suggests that tablet sales this year will begin to slow down.According to the IDC’s Tom Mainelli, Program Vice President, Devices & Displays, “After years of strong growth, we expect the white-box tablet market to slow in 2014 as consumers move to higher-end devices that work better and last longer.”
He later adds, “In mature markets, where many buyers have purchased higher-end products from market leaders, consumers are deciding that their current tablets are good enough for the way they use them. Few are feeling compelled to upgrade the same way they did in years past, and that’s having an impact on growth rates.”
So based on what he is saying, it seems that technology has progressed to that point in time where future upgrades are no longer as attractive as they used to be, and that customers would rather purchase a high-end tablet now that will get them through the next few years, rather than pay for upgrades on an annual basis.
In fact that logic could be applied to smartphones as well. A couple of years ago, every now and then we’d see a new phone with hardware that trumps the competition. However fast forward to today, smartphones are starting to pack similar hardware, such as large displays with Full HD resolutions, quad-core chipsets, and so on.
Of course smartphone requirements are slightly different from that of tablets, but we at the end of the day with hardware being more or less on par with one another, it really boils down to other things, such as features, durability, branding, and so on. What do you guys think? Do you agree with the IDC’s findings and reasoning?
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