According to Digitimes, the production capacity is now at about 3 million units per month, with white-box companies expected to ship a total of more than 50 million units per month. In comparison, Apple shipped just under 40.5 million iPads in 2011, while total tablet shipments were about 66.9 million, according to Strategy Analytics.
Apparently the manufacturing frenzy was set off by the availability for Android 4 as "hundreds of small- and medium-size businesses have entered the development and production of tablet PCs on an OEM, ODM or OBM basis" in China's Guangdong province alone, Digitimes said.
However, most tablets appear to be targeting emerging markets with 7-, 8-, 9.7- and 10.1-inch screen sizes with a very basic feature and low cost set. Prices for a 10.1-inch tablet with 1024 by 600 pixel screen resolution and 4 GB storage are estimated to cost somewhere between $100 and $110.