IHS iSuppli Media Tablet Semiconductor Forecast and STerm Tablet Forecast (from March and May)
Coming up from the No. 35 position in 2010, media tablets rose to become the eighth-largest semiconductor market in 2011. Their ranking will climb to fifth place in 2012, and then rise to fourth in 2014—a position it is set to maintain in 2015.
In a parallel development, mobile handsets will become the world’s largest semiconductor application in 2012, for the first time ever exceeding mobile PCs as the leading chip segment.
also:
After dipping to 55.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a final estimate, the Apple operating system’s share of worldwide tablet sales—a segment including both media tablets and PC-type tablets—is set to recover to 61 percent for the full year of 2012, about the same portion it had in 2011.
>> Led by iPad, Media Tablets Expected to Become Fourth-Largest Semiconductor Market by
2014
IHS iSuppli Press Release
Dale Ford
March 9, 2012
tinyurl.com
In a remarkably rapid ascension, media tablets in 2014 will become the world’s fourth-largest application for semiconductors, up from 35th in 2010, rising in just four short years from obscurity to a level rivaling the position of powerhouse chip markets like mobile handsets and PCs, according to the IHS iSuppli Application Market Forecast Tool from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).
Sales of semiconductors for use in media tablets are expected to skyrocket to $18.2 billion in 2014, up from $2.6 billion in 2010, the year that Apple kicked off the market with the introduction of the iPad, as presented in the figure below. In 2014, sales of semiconductors for tablets are expected to be exceeded only by mobile handsets, mobile PCs and desktop PCs. In contrast, media tablet semiconductor sales in 2010 ranked lower than the relatively small-scale applications of workstations, USB flash drives, mobile wireless broadband wireless access devices and flat-panel monitors.
“The speed of the media tablet’s rise from near insignificance to top-tier prominence is unprecedented in the history of the global semiconductor industry,” said Dale Ford, head of electronics & semiconductor research for IHS. “Driven primarily by Apple’s iPad, the media tablet in four years is expected to scale semiconductor heights that took more than a decade for other products to attain, such as notebook PCs and cellphones. This meteoric ascension will have major repercussions for the global semiconductor industry, as it realigns to accommodate the fast growth and vast size of the media tablet market.”
Coming up from the No. 35 position in 2010, media tablets rose to become the eighth-largest semiconductor market in 2011. Their ranking will climb to fifth place in 2012, and then rise to fourth in 2014—a position it is set to maintain in 2015.
In a parallel development, mobile handsets will become the world’s largest semiconductor application in 2012, for the first time ever exceeding mobile PCs as the leading chip segment.
Semiconductor Empires
The rise of tablets as a chip application market could bring significant changes to the semiconductor market, realigning the players and products that shape the industry.
“The rise of specific applications has led to the creation of semiconductor powerhouses in the past—such as the PC microprocessor colossus of Intel Corp. or the cellphone chipset juggernaut of Qualcomm Inc.” Ford said. “However, media tablets will generate semiconductor demand that is much more broadly diversified, spreading the opportunity among a wider set of suppliers than previous platforms did.”
Beyond yielding vast revenues for application processors, baseband and radio frequency (RF) chips, media tablets also are creating exciting opportunities for the makers of NAND flash and DRAM, wireless integrated circuits, image sensors, microelectromechanical sensors, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and power management ICs, Ford observed. “So, while there will be a handful of suppliers that will stand out as the leading suppliers of semiconductors for media tablets, there are many component markets that represent highly attractive opportunities for a diverse group of suppliers. Interestingly enough, media tablets and handsets are a key driving force in reducing some of the consolidation in the semiconductor industry that has developed in more mature markets like PCs.” ###
>> No Contest: Apple iOS to Maintain Tablet Dominance in 2012
IHS iSuppli Press Release
May 15, 2012
Rhoda Alexander
tinyurl.com
After suffering a temporary dip in market share in the fourth quarter of 2011, Apple Inc.’s iOS is expected to reassert its commanding leadership of the worldwide tablet space in 2012, according to an IHS iSuppli Worldwide Tablet Market Tracker report from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).
After dipping to 55.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a final estimate, the Apple operating system’s share of worldwide tablet sales—a segment including both media tablets and PC-type tablets—is set to recover to 61 percent for the full year of 2012, about the same portion it had in 2011.
Apple’s dominating media tablet market share in the fourth quarter of 2011 had been diminished by a surge in sales of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet, which is based on Google’s Android operating system. This had caused Android’s share of the tablet operating system market to climb to 41.1 percent, up from 31.1 percent during the third quarter of 2011. However, as Apple reasserts its leadership, Android’s share will decline to 38.4 percent for the full year of 2012.
“The key to Apple’s media-tablet success has been its offering of a complete hardware-plus-content ecosystem,” said Rhoda Alexander, director for monitors and tablets research at IHS. “The combination of a good-looking device, well-designed applications, video, books and music has provided consumers with an easy-to-use product and an appealing use case. Such an ecosystem took Apple years to put together, starting with the iPod plus iTunes Music Store more than nine years ago, and it’s proving to be a challenge for the company’s competitors to replicate it.”
Further bolstering Apple’s commanding position in the market, supply-side sources indicate that the company will deploy a smaller, 7.8-inch display version of the iPad later this year, although Apple has yet to confirm this. A smaller screen does not necessarily mean a substantially lower price; rather, IHS expects Apple will place continuing emphasis on the quality of the overall tablet experience and the benefits of selecting the company’s products.
Growth Tablets
Sales of tablets this year—including both media tablets and PC-type tablets—will soar to 126.6 million units, up a remarkable 85 percent from 68.4 million units in 2011. The impressive performance of tablets this year builds on an even mightier 253 percent explosion last year from sales of 19.4 million units in 2010. Tablets comprise one of the strongest categories in the consumer electronics market today, with heady growth in the next few years matching the wild exuberance of the cellphone or mobile handset industry in its initial years of market-busting expansion.
Tablet sales will rise another 63 percent next year, on their way to 360.4 million units by 2016.
Enter the PC Tablet
While media tablets such as the iPad dominate now and throughout the forecast, new ultrabook offerings and the release of Windows 8 later this year will help drive stronger sales in 2013 and beyond of PC-type tablets, IHS predicts. PC tablets will appeal to users wanting the flexibility of a tablet with the versatility of a traditional computer. These devices are able to manage multiple windows and applications including traditional full desktop applications, but can also convert to a slate form with touch capability. The smaller, lighter form of some of the new ultrabook offerings, touch improvements in Windows 8, and more aggressive pricing will help drive growth in this category.
Media tablets are often designated as “consumption-type” products with which users can browse the web, send email, view video, play games or interact with applications.
Within the media tablet space, however, the market is fragmenting into two segments—value products largely serving as “consumption-type” portable media players; and higher-performance units incorporating more complex applications and stronger processors. Much of the growth in the future will come from the value segment, but the performance sector will provide the stronger challenge to traditional PCs in both business and consumer markets.
Overall, the growth last year of media tablets dwarfed that of tablet PCs, and media tablet sales will continue to outperform those of tablet PCs in 2012. By next year, tablet PC growth will accelerate to nearly 160 percent, compared to a still-robust 60 percent increase for media tablets.
The PC tablet growth is a form transition within the larger notebook market and does not reflect any cannibalization of the media tablet opportunity. This is because PC tablets will still lag well behind their media tablet counterparts next year, numbering a little over 8 million units compared to more than 197 million units for media tablets. ###
- Eric - |
