Tablet sales have dropped 5.9% according to analysts from the IDC Company in 2016. They however project that by 2017 due to the number of detachable keyboard and accessories on tablets, their sales are going to boom up. Technological giants Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google have introduced keyboard detachable tablets namely the Microsoft Surface Book, the Apple iPad Pro, and the Google Pixel C respectively. This might stabilise the tablet market even if it is single digit growth.
They do however project that the highest gain in the market by 2024 would be by Microsoft, with a rise in the global market from their present 53.3 % share to a respectable 74.6 %. Microsoft has two keyboard detachable products on the market right now which include the Surface Book laptop and Surface Pro 4 which run on the Windows 10 operating system. As expected in any rise there is a fall, and this one will come at Apple’s expense.
The reason for this might be because there is only one keyboard detachable tablet from the popular phone company; though there are rumours there might be a smaller version on the way. The market is expected to shrink from 28.5% to only 7.3% for Apple by 2024 from their 2015 figures.
Android tablets still power on at 18.2 % and the IDC predicts that nothing much will change for the Google-powered operating system devices. Their predicted 2024 market share stands at 18.1%. The Google Pixel C is one of the Android powered keyboard detachable tablets that are on the market right now.
IDC goes on further to claim that detachable tablets are the future of the broader PC market which includes all conventional computers and laptops. Detachable tablets do however come with different operating systems but the firm says this would not affect people’s decision making process in the future.
There is supposed gain of 22% to be made by these detachable tablets by the year 2024 from the present 8 % market share to a then comfortable 30%. This could save the already shrinking PC industry. There is an estimated rise in the PC market if tablets are factored in with a 1% to 2% growth estimated instead of the expected 3.1% decline.
As the world moves on from and now demands touch based computing on the go, Microsoft and its detachable tablets powered by the Windows 10 are in perfect position for future endeavours. This might be because the company was among the first to lean towards “detachable” devices with its Surface tablet. Other companies soon followed suit when they saw a gap in the market. Dell, Samsung and HP have all put versions of their own.
But as usual IDC might be wrong, they did point out that the smartphone market was to be dominated by Microsoft but where are they now? I put my money on my boys at Appleton drive home this thing.