Tag: tablet sales

T-commerce projections slashed for 2014

| June 5, 2014

While tablets may be the leaders in the mobile tech marketplace, their shipments are notably slowing.

Until now, t-commerce has been leading the way among mobile devices and the growth rate has only continued to climb, but it looks as though tablet shipments are now starting to lose steam and their growth is experiencing a significant decline.

There has been a far larger decline in the demand for tablets than had been predicted in Q1 2014.

Based on the size of the decline in t-commerce that has actually been experienced, when compared to what was predicted in the first quarter of the year, concerns are now being raised regarding what tablets and 2 in 1s will be facing in terms of additional challenges to the marketplace throughout the rest of the year. In fact, the International Data Corporation (IDC) has now decreased its worldwide tablet plus 2 in 1 forecast for 2014 to be 245.4 million units.

This represents a massive drop in the IDC t-commerce shipments forecast that had previously been made.

Last quarter, the IDC had released a prediction that 2014 would see 260.9 million unit shipments. Clearly, this represents a dramatic change in the direction that tablet sales are expected to take. Still, the IDC pointed out in its report that this forecast continues to represent a year over year growth rate of 12.1 percent.t-commerce - tablet

While this is still a healthy rise, it is nowhere near the growth that was experienced in 2013, when tablet shipments had a year over year rise by 51.8 percent.

According to the IDC program vice president of devices and displays, Tom Mainelli, there are two primary issues that are causing the t-commerce marketplace to slow down. “First, consumers are keeping their tablets, especially higher-cost models from major vendors, far longer than originally anticipated. And when they do buy a new one they are often passing their existing tablet off to another member of the family.”

Secondly, he pointed out that as “phablets” – that is hybrids between smartphones and tablets which have screens larger than 5.5 inches – make a bigger splash in the market, consumers are starting to think twice about buying individual smartphones and tablets and are thinking about combining.

World’s cheapest tablet launched in Canada

| December 27, 2013

After having been developed in Montreal, the gadget is now being sold in the country.

The world’s cheapest tablet has now been created by DataWind, a company that was formerly based in Montreal, Canada, and that is now the third largest seller of these gadgets in India.

Under CTO Raja Tuli, the least expensive of the devices was developed and is now available in Canada.

One of the secrets behind the world’s cheapest tablet is in the special touchscreen, which is made of a sheet of glass with a photoresist coating. The devices are currently so inexpensive, that twenty of them could be purchased for the same price as a single premium iPad.

At the moment, the world’s cheapest tablet is going for the highly affordable price of $37.99.

world's cheapest tablet canadaAlthough the specs may not come anywhere near matching the iPad, for that price, many people who would otherwise not be purchasing that type of mobile gadget will be willing to pick one up either for some basic functions around the house or even for a gift to a child.

The device has a 7 inch screen and runs on a low 512 megabytes of RAM, with storage of 4GB. The machine, itself, has been named the Ubislate 7 Ci. An upgrade of the device is available for twice the price, to provide cellular connectivity. That version is called the Ubislate 7C+.

The special inexpensive touchscreens for the DataWind devices are currently manufactured in Montreal, Canada, the country where the company was founded. Since moving to India, the company has managed to become the top tablet seller, in part because of the low price tags that it can attach to its products. Moreover, it is also preferred because the devices are compatible with the antiquated cellular network in India. Hundreds of thousands of these machines have been supplied to school children in India, by way of a partnership that it has forged with the Ministry of Education in the country.

What has yet to be seen is whether or not these world’s cheapest tablets will find themselves as welcome in Canada as they are in India. It is likely that people will choose to purchase them for more basic functions, for kids or seniors, as an alternative to the top models for those who cannot afford them, or to be able to bring one along on trips that come with a risk of breaking or losing the device.