Global shipments of tablet computers, after years of robust growth, declined for the first time in the first quarter of this year, according to NPD DisplaySearch. The research firm also lowered its tablet shipment forecast for 2014.
The decline is in part because of weakening demand for smaller tablets – those between 7 inches and 7.9 inches – which accounted for 58% of global tablet shipments last year.
In China and other emerging markets, competition from smartphones with screens larger than 5.5 inches is hurting demand for those tablets, NPD said.
“There is a risk that the replacement cycle for tablet PCs will lengthen beyond the one to two year range unless brands can develop more attractive usage scenarios,” said NPD analyst Hidekazu Torii in a statement.
In the first quarter, 56 million tablets were shipped world-wide, down from roughly 59 million units a year earlier.
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