The Australian media tablet market will grow by 85% in 2011 stimulated by the impending launch of Apple’s second generation device, the iPad 2, say research company IDC.
In 2010 the Australian market was dominated by Apple’s iPad with other devices such as the Telstra T-Touch, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and Optus My Tab failing to make a significant dent in the market leader’s share. IDC estimates that around 500,000 media tablets were shipped in Australia until 31 December, 2010.
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“With the new iPad 2 and several more Android Honeycomb tablets bound for the tablet hungry Australian market, media tablets are undoubtedly a potential threat to the growth of other form factors in the PC market in 2011,” said Amy Cheah, IDC analyst. “Although IDC research and the empirical evidence show that the majority of media tablets are currently embraced as complementary devices, they are eating into consumers’ share of wallet.”
The media tablet market is unique for the breadth and depth of vendors attempting to capture share with players from many corners of the ICT world including big name brands from the PC, smartphone, telecommunications and networking markets all looking to join the fray.
“Although this year will be dominated by consumer purchases of media tablets, many CIOs are looking at these devices as an opportunity to improve their end user environment so we will see increasing adoption in the enterprise that may be tied to client virtualisation solutions,” said IDC senior market analyst, Trevor Clarke. “The question will be whether these organisations can build a compelling business case for deployment and realise mature use cases to ensure true value is achieved.”
Findings from research in IDC’s recent 40-page, Media Tablet Special Report: Australia, also show that whilst there is a strong intention to purchase a media tablet in 2011 by Australian consumers (see figure below), interest is still strong for other form factors.
