Tablet market set to flatline this year

IDC expects no growth in mature markets as forecast revised downwards

The tablet market in North America and western Europe will show no growth this year, analyst IDC has predicted.

The research house is forecasting global shipments of tablets and two-in-one devices to reach 233.1 million this year. This would represent annual growth of 6.5 per cent, some way below the 12.1 per cent expansion it had previously predicted.

The downward revision follows "a second consecutive quarter of softer-than-expected demand", claimed IDC.

The tablet market across western Europe and North America is expected to remain flat this year, compared with a cumulative 25 per cent expansion in 2013. The rest of the world is expected to show 12 per cent growth, but this is still a long way down from the 88 per cent figure of last year. By 2018 the market is projected to be much more consistent, with the mature markets growing four per cent, fractionally behind the rest of the world on five per cent.

"When we look at the global picture, it would be easy to say that the tablet market is slowing down," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC's research director for tablets. "But when we start digging into the regional dynamics, we realise that there is still a good appetite for this product category."

Average selling prices in North America and western Europe are expected to remain fairly stable this year at $373 (£225). Across the rest of world this figure is projected to be $302, representing a 10 per cent decrease on 2013.