A few days ago we showed you a list with the best tablets at MWC 2018 which closed last week in Barcelona. These devices, coming from firms such as Huawei or Alcatel, showed a series of characteristics both in the field of design and in image or performance that, until not so long ago, were very difficult to see and were light years away from the specifications they had. the most cutting-edge models on the market.
However, as we have told you on other occasions, something that defines consumer electronics for better or for worse, is its speed of change. 10 years go a long way in this field and that is why today we are going to show you an analysis of what the first supports that appeared about a decade ago and how they were evolving gradually until we see the most popular about 5 years ago and the most popular trends today and that arrived around the year 2016.
2008, tablets that are still in mere prototypes
If we had to mark a clear start year on the path of terminals over 7 inches, this would most likely be 2010. However, some time before it was already possible to see some initiatives that, with greater or lesser success, tried to conquer various types of audiences. On the one hand, what we can consider as predecessors of convertibles more widespread today: Some models that fit better within laptops than tablets in the strict sense that had touch screens but were focused on groups such as designers or engineers. Another feature that characterized these models was their high price, which further limited their implementation. The second large group of terminals were the first ebooks, that they were somewhat more widespread although they also continued to have a higher price.
We have some examples in the Dell Latitude XT, which had a diagonal of 12,1 inches with a resolution of 1280 × 800 pixels, a RAM of 2 GB, a processor that stayed at 1,2 Ghz and Windows Vista or also, the Lenovo ThinkPad X61, which stood out for having a screen anchored to the keyboard but that could be rotated. Among its most outstanding features we saw another 12,1-inch screen, a 3 GB RAM, 3 USB ports and a processor manufactured by Intel that reached frequencies of 1,6 Ghz.
2013, the turning point
We move forward in time and we reached the year 2013. During this year, the market was still immersed in the bubble that had started only 3 years ago. The objective to overcome was in the 180 million devices sold, some 60 million more than in 2012. However, laptops were still very strong and also, in both formats, certain symptoms of exhaustion were beginning to appear. We refresh your memory with this article on the tablet sales predictions we had 5 years ago. Android continued to dominate the market, being present in 6 out of 10 devices. Samsung and Apple topped the sales rankings and Microsoft's decline was already beginning here, despite the fact that Redmond's were already selling the first Surface series devices, which coexisted with the more compact Lumia series.
Another of the most prominent features of the tablets that we saw in 2013 was the fact that convertibles, which only two years later became a key pillar in the format, still had a very low presence, since most of the available offer belonged to the compact device category and users continued to opt for functional brackets, small and above all, economic. Do you think that here we are witnessing the change in trend that would translate into lower sales and the appearance of new media?
2016, the market returns to calm but with nuances
If in 2013 and 2014 the highest records were reached in terms of tablets sold, in 2016 a trend started in the previous year was consolidated and which translated into a significant decrease in the number of units sold. Although here the 170 million devices sold, some 50 million less than the 2015 mark. This cooling was manifested, for example, in the fact that the iPad did not finish taking off and continued adding another fall that forced Apple executives to lower their results. However, a very striking situation arose: new players appeared in the sector and hybrid media were definitively consolidated.
One of the causes of this decline was found in a longer useful life of the supports that were appearing. In the presence of Samsung, was added that of other firms that in a short time managed to reach a more significant quota due to the fact that they started from zero, among which stood out Huawei and also Amazon. Here you have one list with the best tablets of 2016 so you can know which devices were at the top a little over a year ago.
What do you think about the evolution that this format has followed in the last 10 years? Do you think there have been very significant changes or not? What could be the direction they will take now and in the nearest future? We leave you available related information such as, for example, an analysis in which we ask ourselves if folding tablets will be the revelation trend in 2018 so you can learn more.