Analyst firm IDC Canada predicts Canada will see just shy of 1.5 million tablets installed in the market by the end of 2011, with most of that driven by the consumer market.
In a new study, Canadian Media Tablet Market 2010-2014 Forecast: A First Look at the Hottest Devices in ICT, IDC said part of the growth is attributable to the fact that 2011 will be the first full year on the market for many tablet offerings. As well, with a large influx of devices expected into the market to compete with Apple’s iPad, many of them boasting Google’s Android OS, IDC is expecting increased competion and lower price points to full greater sales.
“Media tablets turned heads in 2010 with the introduction of the iPad. With market demand now established, competing vendors are launching their own versions of these multi-functional, lightweight devices,” said Krista Napier, senior analyst with IDC Canada. “As a result, we can expect the next six months to be overwhelming in terms of product launches, screen sizes, platforms, price points, and feature sets that pick up where the first version of the iPad left off.”