Apple's iPad is gaining more momentum in the tablet space, helped by rivals' seeming inability to catch up, according to a new report from IHS.
Apple will
increase its iPad shipments in 2011, according to a new prediction from
research firm IHS, which also lowered its shipment outlook for rival tablets.
IHS' research
report arrives days after Hewlett-Packard made the dramatic and unexpected
decision to terminate its TouchPad tablet, previously regarded by some as a
viable iPad competitor. Now the iPad's main rivals include Research In Motion's
BlackBerry-themed PlayBook, along with a host of Google Android tablets.
"All the
momentum in the media tablet market is with Apple right now," Rhoda Alexander,
senior manager of tablet and monitor research for IHS, wrote in an Aug. 24
research note. "The competition can't seem to field a product with the right
combination of hardware, marketing, applications and content to match up with
the iPad."
Apple's zeal
for firing off patent lawsuits against its rivals "is serving to slow or
complicate competitors' entry into some key regional markets," she added. "This
remains a one-horse race."
Taking all
that into consideration, IHS has raised its iPad shipment forecast from 43.7
million to 44.2 million units in 2011. The firm expects Apple will occupy 74
percent of tablet shipments in 2011 and 43.6 percent in 2015, significantly up
from its previous guesses for those dates.
Overall tablet
shipments are expected to hit 60 million units in 2011, up some 245.9 percent
from 17.4 million in 2010. "Apple Inc. is set to increase its iPad shipments at
a faster rate than previously expected in 2011 and beyond," read IHS' research
note, "causing the global media tablet market to exceed growth expectations
during the next few years."
A recent
report in The Wall Street Journal
suggested Apple plans on manufacturing the first "iPad 3" units this fall, with
an eye toward an early 2012 release. The Aug. 19 article added that the next iPad "is
expected to feature a high-resolution display-2048 by 1536, compared with 1024
by 768 in the iPad 2." The screen will apparently retain the same 9.7-inch size
of previous editions.
In June,
Reuters also paraphrased Taiwan's
Economic Daily as saying the iPad 3 would launch with "image resolution 5-6
times higher than iPad 2."
Apple will
issue iOS 5, a broad-based update of its mobile operating system, sometime this
fall. It is a broad-based update: in addition to Newsstand, new features
include a refined notifications screen, boosted interoperability with Twitter,
and an "iMessenger" conversation platform seemingly designed as a direct
competitor to BlackBerry Messenger.
Follow Nicholas Kolakowski on Twitter
Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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