Although the iPad It remains the main reference in the tablet market, even despite its progressive loss of relative presence, compact tablets are on their way to becoming the new queens of the sector. With tablets like Nexus 7 y Kindle Fire HD as a spearhead, the market share of 7-inch devices tripled between the second and fourth quarters of last year, and the tremendous success of iPad mini seems to underpin this trend for next year.
We have already spoken on numerous occasions about the success of the iPad mini and his cannibalization of the demand for iPad de 9.7 inches and in fact, as we already told you, the compact tablet from Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), he has caught up with his older brother much earlier than expected. However, it is not a specific problem of those of Cupertino: according to IDC data published by CNET, the market share of compact tablets went from 12,6% in the second quarter of last year at 41,2% in the fourth quarter, while that of the 10-inch tablets fell from 67,3% al 40,6%.
The latest data by NPD, which we have collected from 9to5Googlealthough very different in nature, they point in the same direction. Based on the demand for screens of different sizes and its evolution between the end of last year and the beginning of this year, the consultancy has drawn a picture that makes this trend very clear. As you can see from the graph, while screen shipments of 7 inches (the standard screen size for compact tablets Android) and of 7.9 inches (which corresponds to the screens manufactured for the iPad mini, mainly), maintain a good growth rate, the largest ones seem to stagnate, especially those of 9.7 inches (mainly those of the iPad), which suffers an enormously steep decline.
The reasons for the increasing inclination of users towards compact tablets are obvious, and well known: in addition to the greater comfort to handle and transport them, they are much more affordable devices. In this NPD report, however, they remain skeptical as to whether or not this trend may change in the future with the arrival of the phablets, devices that with 5 or 6-inch screens could make 7-inch tablets less useful. Given the recent boom in these "hybrids", in any case, we will still have to wait a few months at least to have data that can confirm or not this possibility.