Over 1bn Tablet Users Worldwide This Year

Arabic guy on tabletBy the end of 2015, there will be over 1bn people worldwide using tablets, representing nearly 15 per cent of the global population and more than double the number of users there were three years ago.

The figures, from a report by eMarketer, represent a 17.1 per cent growth on 2014s user numbers, and although growth is slowing, there are expected to be 1.43bn tablet users by 2018.

The growth rate has slowed dramatically since 2013, which saw a 54.1 per cent increase in numbers, and by 2018 the growth rate is likely to be only 7.9 per cent. This slowly growth is due to the continued perception of tablets as luxury items, the competition faced from smartphones and other connected devices, and the weak use case for tablets in markets with strong smartphone use.

While emerging markets are unlikely to pick up the growth as it drops off in established regions, some countries like Brazil and Indonesia are seeing considerable growth, with Brazil likely to overtake the UK as the fourth-largest market this year, and Indonesia expected to hit 38m tablet users by the end of next year.

“The shared nature of tablets and increased competition from other connected devices reduce the likelihood that the tablet audience will match the size of the smartphone audience worldwide,” said Cathy Boyle, senior analyst at eMarketer. “The most limiting factor is the use case for a tablet: It is not as clear-cut or compelling as a communication tool, the core capability and use case for a smartphone.”