There is a massive audience of tablet users in the world today, using about 800 million units worldwide. Even though tablets are popular devices for entertainment, upgrade rates have been very low, so despite a large installed base available to refresh, shipments have declined in recent years. Aside from getting thinner, lighter, faster, and sometimes gaining a keyboard, the industry has given few reasons for consumers to upgrade their old devices before they stop using them completely.
Fortunately, there are several differentiating enabling technologies in development and in the early stages of adoption which vendors and component manufacturers can seize to grab attention and deliver new, exciting experiences that just aren’t possible on older devices. New implementations of software, hardware or better still, a combination of the two, are the keys to transforming the tablet into a new kind of device. Each enabling technology on its own may not be a deal-clincher, but for many consumers, it might be a mandatory tick-box item in the product specification. Balancing cost and functionality is critical to understanding how to improve sales and tablet usage, whether it is connectivity, security, screen technology, sensors, or ruggedization.
This extensive datamodel is part two in a 2-part series of reports forecasting 43 major enabling technologies for tablets. This report forecasts shipments and installed base of tablets by 18 major enabling technologies, ranging alphabetically from M through Z: Memory Card Slot, Miracast, Multiple User Accounts, Multitasking, NFC, Remote Kill / Data Wipe, Ruggedized - Consumer, Ruggedized - Fully, Ruggedized - Semi, Stylus / Pen, Thunderbolt, USB, USB-C, Voice Authentication, Voice Recognition, Waterproof, Wi-Fi Direct, and Wireless Charging. Regions covered in the report are: North America, Central & Latin America, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. The report includes both historical and forecast data for the years 2010 to 2022. This report is published during Q3 2018, following actual Q1 2018 results. It updates and supersedes the Tablet Enabling Technologies Shipment and Installed Base Forecast by Region, M to Z: 2010 - 2022: Q1 2018 Update report published in May 2018.