The End of the PC Era - Worldwide Shipments to 2017

In-Stat has just published a study on Tablets.

You have to pay big bucks for the study itself but a few highlight items.

• Shipments will read 250 million units by 2017.
• In the consumer segment, tablets are competing against all CE and computing devices, not just PCs.
• Despite similarities in system hardware and software architecture, usage models among mobile devices vary by device type.
• The combination of mobile applications, new semiconductor technology, and the full Internet experience are key factors in empowering the tablet market. Big Data will lead to a massive move towards Cloud based environment to support a range of Apps. This in turn will lead to a raft of poorly designed applications and bootstrapped businesses sitting on top of the current infrastructure. Will Travel be ready for that?
• The 9-inch to 11-inch form factor is forecasted to be the dominant tablet form factor with 56% of the market in 2017.
• iOS and Android are forecast to maintain over 90% of the market share with Windows as a distant 3rd. Farewell WebOS and Symbian - where to RIM?
• Not supporting one of the leading OS platforms is likely to lead to the failure of several companies in the tablet market due to lack of application support. This is pointed at RIM more than anyone else.
• Wireless operator business models could have a tremendous impact on future tablet demand. Thus far the Wireless operators have managed to control the market and force some tough conditions on the user community such as the abandonment of the All you can consume data models in the USA.

Oh we better get to understand what this means.... THINK ABOUT THIS. And now act accordingly

Cheers