73 million tablets were shifted in 2011

BEANCOUNTERS at NPD Displaysearch have released data estimating that 73 million tablets were shipped last year.

The firm reckons that shipments hit 72.7 million units, making up 25.5 per cent of the mobile PC market. Year on year growth is expected to reach 256 per cent.

"In the short term, tablet PCs will be the growth accelerant in the overall mobile PC market, as macroeconomic factors and hard drive motor supply issues impact the market for notebook PCs," said Richard Shim, senior analyst at NPD Displaysearch.

"In the longer term, notebook PC shipments will bounce back as ASPs [average selling prices] continue to decline, Windows 8 launches, and new form factors, such as ultrabooks, continue to emerge."

The report says that notebook PC shipments are expected to reach 432 million by 2017 compared to 383.3 million for tablet PCs. The analyst firm said that Ultrabooks will be held back by high price points over the next two years even though consumers will be attracted by the sleek designs and features such as instant on.

Demand and shipments of tablets will be driven by multi-core processors, 'mature' operating systems, larger app libraries and higher resolution displays. The company predicts that tablets with a 250ppi to 300ppi screens will make up nearly 25 per cent of the market this coming year. µ