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Tablet Shipments to Surpass 58 Million in 2014

The current market drivers for tablet shipments include a significant increase in the availability of new media, such as new magazines, newspapers and books.

As well, there's a number of tablet applications available for mobile computing, such as web browsing, email, social networks, and video playback.

Applications like complex games that are more immersive, compared to those designed for smartphones or other mobile devices, will be developed at a rapid pace this year.

According to the latest market study by In-Stat, those developments are helping to drive content and therefore demand for tablets to where unit shipments will surpass 58 million in 2014.

"Although the consumer market is the primary target for tablets right now, the commercial market also represents a potential revenue opportunity for tablet OEMs," says Jim McGregor, Chief Technology Strategist at In-Stat.

Usage models and user requirements will differ in the commercial market, but as the overall tablet market becomes more defined over the next year, the opportunities for tablets within business markets will become more apparent.

In-Stat's recent market study findings include:

- 13.2 percent of In-Stat's Technology Adoption Panel survey respondents currently own a tablet.

- Email and web browsing were the top two tablet uses by current owners at 68 and 66 percent respectively.

- The strongest shipment growth begins in the latter portion of In-Stat's forecast period.

- Of the survey respondents who own a tablet, nearly 55 percent spend 9 hours or more each week using their tablet.

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