ABI Research has a fresh report with good news for tablet makers: it appears that tablet hardware sales from branded OEMs will top $85 billion this year. The first quarter is said to have been nothing to write at home about, for tablet vendors, with a 30% decline in units moved, but the rest of the year will be better.
OEM shipments will exceed 200 million this year and Intel is about to make a big splash in the following time frame, with a projected 40 million devices powered by its processors. ABI Research claims that a significant portion will come from smaller vendors in China and Taiwan, who are developing next gen Android slates during the second half of the year. MediaTek, Qualcomm, Samsung and other chipset suppliers will also provide their solutions.
China and India combined are expected to stand for more than 35% of the 2014 shipments in the region. Tablets made in China for the local customers have been a big part of the white box segment, but there’s still work to be done in the area of local service and support. The iPad still remains the leading OEM brand in 2014, but Samsung is closing in, being placed second. The duo could stand for 70% of the tablet market by the year end.
