The UK tablet market will see a slump in sales during 2014, according to research from CCS Insight, with a drop of 3m expected from the 17m sold in 2013.

Two years of explosive growth have seen tablet ownership increase from just six per cent to 43 per cent of the population, fuelled by the huge price range of tablets on offer.

After a quiet 2014, people will start replacing tablets bought in the early growth years, accompanied by a wave of people suffering buyers remorse opting to move away from cheaper devices. By 2017, CCS expects 86 per cent of the UK public to own a tablet, with 20m tablet sales made across the country. The market will be worth £2.2bn.

Small devices already dominate the market – accounting for 63 per cent of sales in the UK in 2013 – up from 34 per cent in 2012. By 2017, two-thirds of devices sold will have a screen 9″ or smaller.

“Tablets have captured peoples imagination in a way that even mobile phones didnt,” said Marina Koytcheva, director of forecasting at CCS Insight. “In just four years, almost half the population of the UK has now got a tablet. It took 14 years for mobile phones to become that popular. Of course, the plunging prices have a lot to do with the success of tablets.”