After a study suggested that a surge in tablet shipments would exceed that of laptops, tablet display shipments officially topped notebooks during October.
"In a milestone for the global industry, in October tablet PC panel shipments exceeded those of notebook PC panels," NPD DisplaySearch said today within a research note.
Due to the fact that display panel shipments are the leading indicator for device shipments, "it can be seen that tablet PCs are threatening to overtake notebooks," said DisplaySearch.
The firm broke the figures down:
- Inventory buildup in laptops: The notebook PC supply chain has some slow-moving inventory... and panel shipments declined by almost 4 million units from September to October.
- Shift to Windows 8: Notebook PC panel buyers bought fewer displays as they prepared for new Windows 8 designs.
- Tablet shipment surge: Tablet shipments soared to build inventory for the holidays.
"October panel shipments could be a special case," noted DisplaySearch analyst David Hsieh. He said tablets "have been the hottest" category for displays throughout the duration of 2012 thus far.
The company had recently predicted that increasingly popular $199 models and a wider variety of screen sizes will see 2012 fourth quarter tablet shipments increase to 21.5 million units, subsequently "far exceeding" the 14.6 million laptops expected to be shipped during the same period.
Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Zak Islam is a freelance writer focusing on security, networking, and general computing. His work also appears at Digital Trends and Tom's Guide.
-
axiler Really isn't hard to believe this, you've got to think of how long good laptops have been around and how long they last before needing a new upgrade. While tablets on the other hand are really hitting it off with the masses, considering things like Windows 8 tablets and iPads.Reply -
Abion47 For the longest time, it has completely baffled me why anyone would want to get a tablet when you can get a much better and more versatile laptop for around the same price. It's sales figures like this that remind me that the vast majority of people aren't power users and get pretty much everything they need out of a computer from a tablet. Kind of humbling, really.Reply -
victorintelr Abion47For the longest time, it has completely baffled me why anyone would want to get a tablet when you can get a much better and more versatile laptop for around the same price. It's sales figures like this that remind me that the vast majority of people aren't power users and get pretty much everything they need out of a computer from a tablet. Kind of humbling, really.Well, also tablet batteries last usually a lot more than the one of a laptop.Reply
My laptop recently died and I ended up using my tablet for a whole month (toshiba thrive) and recently decided to fix my desktop and use another old laptop my mom gave me. I'm glad to use Windows again, specially 'cause I don't necessarily use only the web and my email, and the Facebook app for android and iOS is so limited, got sick of it. -
welson The great collection of new branded laptops.I really like it and have seen similar high quality cheap laptops at affordable prices.you can find an impressive variety of laptops deals. http://www.just4laptops.co.ukReply