For the first time this year, cheaper and smaller devices gained favor with the consumers. Google surpassed Apple in tablets -- Google's software will power more tablets than Apple's, or so Bloomberg reported. It is expected that Google's shares will rise to 49% in 2013, while Apple’s share will dip to 46% - last year they had 51%, and Google had 46%.
Tablets from Google, and products from Samsung and Amazon are gaining favor due to their prices; the prices start at around $200, which is less than half the cost of the newest iPad model. iPad Mini was released to defend their market dominance amid mounting competition.
Smaller tablets will continue to grow in 2013 and beyond - one in two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8 inches in screen size, an analyst at IDC said. They also said that global shipments will reach 190.9 million units this year, which is higher than its previous prediction for 172.4 million. By 2017, the tablet market will surge to 350 million units.
Multifunctional tablets are gaining popularity and less consumers will be willing to buy e-readers. In 2011, it reached the peak of 26.4 million units then fell to 18.2 million in 2012. There will be a gradua decline by 2015. It will be interesting to see how the competition between Samsung, Apple, Microsoft and Google plays out.
