Right now Apple rules the tablet market easily, without breaking a sweat and since the iPad 3 sold 3 million units last weekend, I see no reason for them to worry. The problem however will appear when the likes of Amazon Kindle Fire sell better… there’s already talk about a very affordable Nexus Tablet and with Amazon preparing yet another slate, the battle will get tight in the future.
Now it turns out that low cost tablets may end up controlling up to 60% of the tablet market by 2016, according to predictions by ABI Research. The same firm says that there are right now over 220 tablet models available all over the world and 4 years from now 60% of the market will be made up by sub $400 models. Considering that the iPad 2 also dropped to a similar price range recently, I guess Apple will be safe and if that cheaper iPad Mini turns out to be real, they will really stay at the top of the pack.
Google’s Nexus Tab sounds like a real threat right now, especially with the rumors of ditching the Tegra 3 for an even lower price than expected. Growth markets line India and China will be the key for conquering the affordable tablet area, according to Jeff Orr, group director of consumer research. ABI also claims that eReaders will keep growing as well, with an evolution of over 20% this year alone.
