Global tablet shipments to shrink by 15 percent

IDC recently announced its predictions on the state of the tablet market and now it is TrendForce's turn to give a word on current trends.

According to TrendForce, worldwide shipments by the end of 2015 will fall by 14.9 percent YoY to 163.4 million tablets. If comparing to the previous quarter, Apple experienced a drop from 10.9 million tablets shipped in Q2 2015 to 9.9 million in Q3 2015. White-label tablets are on the rise to serve as affordable alternatives to costlier models from major brands.

The Holiday season is traditionally a strong quarter for retailers and TrendForce is expecting this year to be especially big for Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple as we move towards the new year. For Amazon, the new 7-inch Fire 7 for $50 USD is expected to be a bestseller. TrendForce is predicting over 3 million in sales for the new Amazon Fire family. Meanwhile, Microsoft will likely see huge increases in Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3 sales. The iPad Mini 4 and upcoming iPad Pro should help Apple reach a more profitable Q4 2015.

The top 5 tablet ranking sees Apple ahead of the curve with an estimated 13.1 million tablets shipped for Q4 2015 compared to Samsung's 8.5 million and Lenovo's 2.5 million. Asus is in fourth place with just 1.6 million. If Amazon does indeed sell over 3 million tablets this Holiday season, then the retailer will easily overtake Lenovo as the third largest tablet manufacturer.

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