Despite the best efforts of Apple and Android manufacturers, the market for tablets and 2-in-1 devices will continue to wither in 2015, according to the latest report from IDC.
IDC released its Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker today, and it projects that the combination of tablets and gizmos that are part laptop and part tablet will be 221.8 million units in 2015, a drop of 3.8 percent from last year.
The latest figures follow six months of falling sales that caused IDC to revise its annual projection downward. Of course, the struggles of Apple’s iPad have been well chronicled, but the tablet malaise extends well beyond that company to the general market.
There are a couple of bright spots, but you’d have to squint pretty hard to see them. IDC said there are some markets where cellular-capable tablets and hybrids are growing. But the research firm noted this is still a teeny-weeny portion of the market. It also said that larger-screen tablets are making a bit of a comeback against smaller-screen tablets.
