Analysts forecast that the Australian tablet computer shipments will break two million units this year despite Samsung’s massive patent defeat to Apple in the US.

The jury ruling in the US has seen Samsung hit with a damages bill for more than $1 billion. It puts the Korean on the ropes legally in similar patent battles it is fighting with Apple worldwide, including in Australia.

Other tablet manufacturers are also likely to be taking a more cautious approach with their products.

Analyst firm IDC said about 420,000 tablet computers were shipped to Australia during the quarter to March and forecast that sales would hit about 2.1 million for the year.

Telsyte has also tipped that shipments to Australia will reach two million units this year, but it is revising its forecasts upward.

That is about 40 percent growth on last year’s shipments of 1.4 million. About three million Australians already use tablet computers.

Apple, with Australian market share estimates hovering between 76 percent and 85 percent, had developed a major lead over Samsung and manufacturers selling tablet variants based Google’s Android operating system.

However, Telsyte said recent price competition due to the release of low-cost tablets using Google’s Android was widening the market and accelerating sales.