Skip to main content

Will New Media Tablets Displace PCs or Smartphones?

Led by a growing demand for media tablets -- and more specifically the Apple iPad 2 -- an estimated 37 million ultra-mobile devices (UMDs) will ship into the United States during 2011.

UMDs represent mobile computing devices on a continuum bordered by laptop or notebook  PCs and smartphones.

The UMD category consists of four segments: ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs), mobile Internet devices (MIDs), netbooks, and media tablets.

The revenue value from vendor shipments of UMDs into U.S. sales and distribution channels during 2015 is forecast to reach $24 billion. About 75 percent of total UMD shipments in the U.S. market during 2011 are expected to be media tablets.

“While the near-term opportunity is all about media tablets, no UMD segment type has ever sustained a lead for longer than 36 months in any part of the world,” says ABI Research group director Jeff Orr.

Is the next mobile device trend, beyond the introduction of new low-cost media tablets, on the horizon? Will it displace an existing mobile device category? We will have to wait and see.

Netbooks continue to be an important segment, though U.S. volumes will steadily decline over the next five years from all-time highs of 9.9 million units shipped in 2010.

Netbook value will shift from highly competitive computing and mobile broadband markets, including the U.S., to countries where low computing and home broadband penetration offers the greatest potential for mobile computing.

UMDs are well-positioned inside the edges of the mobile device landscape, though end-user demand is driven more to newer form-factors by an emotional connection -- and less on consumer needs and business roles.

“For UMDs in the U.S. to take the PC or smartphone markets head-on, there needs to be a fundamental shift in buying behavior -- driven by lifestyle enhancements and workplace requirements,” says Orr.

Popular posts from this blog

Demand for Quantum Computing as a Service

The enterprise demand for quantum computing is still in its early stages, growing slowly. As the technology becomes more usable, we may see demand evolve beyond scientific applications. The global quantum computing market is forecast to grow from $1.1 billion in 2022 to $7.6 billion in 2027, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). That's a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.1 percent. The forecast includes base Quantum Computing as a Service, as well as enabling and adjacent Quantum Computing as a Service. However, this updated forecast is considerably lower than IDC's previous quantum computing forecast, which was published in 2021, due to lower demand globally. Quantum Computing Market Development In the interim, customer spend for quantum computing has been negatively impacted by several factors, including: slower than expected advances in quantum hardware development, which have delayed potential return on inve

AI Semiconductor Revenue will Reach $119.4B

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and/or the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will guide Generative AI initiatives within the large enterprise C-Suite. They may already have the technical expertise and experience to understand the capabilities and limitations of Gen AI. They also have the authority and budget to make the necessary investments in infrastructure and talent to support Gen AI initiatives. Enterprise AI infrastructure is proven to be expensive to build, operate and maintain. That's why public cloud service provider solutions are often used for new AI use cases. AI Semiconductor Market Development Semiconductors designed to execute Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads will represent a $53.4 billion revenue opportunity for the global semiconductor industry in 2023, an increase of 20.9 percent from 2022, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "The developments in generative AI and the increasing use of a wide range AI-based applications in data c

Global Public Cloud Spending to Reach $1.35T

Most digital transformation is enabled by cloud solutions. Worldwide spending on public cloud services is forecast to reach $1.35 trillion in 2027, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Although annual spending growth is expected to slow slightly over the 2023-2027 forecast period, the market is forecast to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.9 percent. "Cloud now dominates tech spending across infrastructure, platforms, and applications," said Eileen Smith, vice president at IDC . Public Cloud Services Market Development IDC believes that most organizations have adopted the public cloud as a cost-effective platform for hosting enterprise applications, and for developing and deploying customer-facing solutions. Looking forward, the cloud computing model remains well positioned to serve customer needs for innovation in application development and deployment -- including as data, artificial intelligence