IDC increases its 2013 tablet shipment forecast from 172.4 million to 190.9m units, thanks to a predicted surge of smaller, lower-priced devices.
"One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8-inch in screen size," IDC says. "In terms of shipments, we expect smaller tablets to continue growing in 2013 and beyond... Vendors are moving quickly to compete in this space as consumers realize that these small devices are often more ideal than larger tablets for their daily consumption habits."
According to the analyst WW tablet shipments will reach over 350m by end 2017, with a CAGR of 11% during the 2013-2016 period.
Android market share is set to peak in 2013-- IDC forecasts Android share will reach 48.8%, up from 41.5% in previous forecasts. Such gains will come at the expense of iOS, whose share will slip from 51% in 2012 to 46% in 2013.
Further in the future both platforms will lose share to Windows 8 growing from 1% of the market in 2012 to 7.4% in 2017.
"Microsoft's decision to push two different tablet operating systems, Windows 8 and Windows RT, has yielded poor results in the market so far," The analyst comments. "Long term we think Microsoft and its partners would be better served by focusing their attention on improving Windows 8. Such a focus could drive better share growth in the tablet category down the road."
While tablets are growing further and further, the same cannot be said for eReaders-- IDC reduces its eReader forecast by an average of -14% for the 2013-2016 period, with the device category to begin a "gradual and permanent decline" from 2015.