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James Wang, DIGITIMES Research, Taipei [Friday 30 December 2011]
With a global economic situation that does not seem too pessimistic for 2012, demand for mobile computing will rise steadily and the price-performance ratio of tablet devices will improve. And there will be improvements to the software and hardware support for Android-based tablets. These factors all contribute to a 60% growth in tablet shipments to 95.10 million units in 2012. This Digitimes Research Special Report analyzes the market and forecasts the prospects for 13 major tablet brands worldwide for 2012. Abstract 
In the fourth quarter of 2011, worldwide sales of branded tablet devices saw zero growth amid a global economic downturn. Many started wondering whether the tablet market was already maturing. However, Digitimes Research's analysis shows that the fourth-quarter zero growth was a special case resulting from the double impacts of the March 11 disasters in Japan and the weak economy. They are not expected to hinder the future of tablet devices.
The global economic situation does not seem too pessimistic in 2012. Demand for mobile computing will rise steadily and the price-performance ratio of tablet devices will improve. And there will be improvements to the software and hardware support for Android-based tablets. These factors all contribute to a 60% growth in tablet shipments to 95.10 million units in 2012. Digitimes Research defines shipments as devices shipped from ODM/OEM partners to brand partners. Brand vendors' shipments to channels are not taken into consideration.
After a year of trials and tribulations in 2011, capable vendors have already established firm places in the global tablet device market. Digitimes Research has examined 13 major tablet brands worldwide, predicted their shipments in 2012, and assessed the importance of tablet devices in these vendors' overall product lines.
Inside the Top-3 camp, the king - Apple - has shown its bottleneck. Its strategy of one model per year undermined its sales momentum in the fourth quarter of 2011, while competitor Amazon enjoyed brisk sales during the hot season. Samsung Electronics was in a neck-and-neck race with Apple in both smartphone and notebook sales. Samsung's next target is the tablet market, and its shipments stand a chance of hitting 10 million units.
Within the camp comprising Apple's competitors, Samsung, PC and e-book vendors will form three major forces in the tablet market. Major PC vendors in the tablet market include Lenovo, Acer and Asustek Computer, with each of them shipping 2.5-3 million tablet devices, or almost 10% of their overall shipments. Handset vendors' tablet shipments are mostly be less than 2 million units each, sharing less than 5% of their overall shipments. Among e-book reader vendors, Amazon still leads Barnes & Noble by a wide margin, but their proportion of tablets will both still be at least 30% of their overall shipments.
Table of contents Global overview of tablet brands in 2011 Reflections on the mobile computing market Netbooks have led the mobile computing sector through the storm of the financial crisis Chart 1: Mobile computing device shipments, 2007-2011 (k units) Tablets have picked up where netbooks left off since 2010 Chart 2: Breakdown of mobile computing device shipments by type, 2008-2011 Reflections on the tablet market in 2011 Chart 3: Quarterly global shipments of branded tablets, 2010-2011 (m units) Seasonal analysis of shipments Analysis of tablet specifications in 2011 Operating systems Chart 4: Global market share for branded tablet operating systems in 2011 Breakdown by screen size Chart 5: Global shipment share of branded tablets by screen size, 2011 Chart 6: Global shipments of branded tablets by screen size, 2011 Brands and ODM/OEMs Brands Chart 7: Rankings of major branded tablets by global shipments in 2011 ODM/OEMs Chart 8: 2011 market share for Taiwan-based tablet ODM/OEMs Chart 9: Market share for Taiwan-based tablet ODM/OEM firms in 2011 Global outlook for tablets in 2012 Chart 10: Key factors influencing the 2012 tablet market GDP growth forecasts for the major economies Chart 11: GDP growth forecasts for the major economies Global shipments of mobile computing devices, 2014-2014 Chart 12: Global shipment forecast of mobile computing devices, 2010-2014 (m units) Chart 13: Annual growth rates of tablet and other mobile devices, 2008-2012 (%) Smartphones Chart 14: Smartphone shipments, 2011-2014 / Shipments of iOS and Android phones and tablets in 2011 (m units) Mobile computing Chart 15: Global shipment breakdwon of mobile computing devices by type, 2010-2014 Tablets Chart 16: Other vendors will launch 1,920x1,200 hi-res models to compete with new hi-res iPads Chart 17: Materials costs and US retail prices for 7-inch and 10-inch 16GB Wi-Fi tablet models Chart 18: Android ICS and increases in high-end mobile phone screen resolutions will result in major improvements in the interoperability of handset and tablet applications 2012 tablet shipment forecast iPad vs.non-iPad Chart 19: Global shipments of mobile computing devices, 2010-2014 By operating systems Chart 20: Global tablet OS market share projections for 2012 Chart 21: Android shipments overtake the iPhone 2 years after the launch of Android Tablet brands in 2012 Chart 22: Tablet shipments for major global brands, 2011-2012 (m units) The big three general manufacturers: Apple, Samsung, Sony Apple Chart 23: Apple tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) Samsung Samsung takes the top spot in the smartphone sector but has so far failed to exploit its potential in the tablet market Chart 24: Samsung tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) Sony Chart 25: Sony tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) The mobile phone manufacturers: RIM, HTC, Motorola RIM Chart 26: RIM tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) HTC Chart 27: HTC tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) Motorola Chart 28: Motorola tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) PC manufacturers: Lenovo, Acer, Asus, HP and Dell Lenovo Chart 29: Lenovo tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) Acer Chart 30: Acer tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) Asus Chart 31: Asus tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) HP Chart 32: HP tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) Dell Chart 33: Dell tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) E-reader manufacturers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble Amazon Chart 34: Amazon tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) Barnes & Noble Chart 35: Barnes & Noble tablet shipments and shipment breakdown by product, 2010-2012 (m units) Conclusion Chart 36: Proportion of overall tablet shipments from non-Apple manufacturers (m units, share of company's combined shipments)
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