Worldwide tablet sales are set to exceed 381 million units in 2017, according to new Forrester data. Of that number, enterprise purchases will make up 18% – having risen every year as a percentage of sales since the inception of the market.
According to the report, the global installed base of tablets is poised to reach 905 million units, with more than one in eight people on earth owning one, including 29% of online consumers globally.
Among North Americans, 60% will own a tablet by 2017; while in Europe – 42% of online consumers will have one. However, penetration rates won’t reach 25% in aggregate in the developing world by 2017, but tablets will have established themselves as universal computing tools in the wealthier Asian markets such as Singapore and South Korea.
The research firm also said that tablets will play an increasingly critical role at work. Both company-issued and bring-your-own (BYO) tablets will become pervasive in workplaces in developing countries or dynamic regions of developing countries. In the next few years, employees will be more willing to pay some or all of the cost of their device; vertical scenarios will emerge in areas like healthcare; and specific classes of workers (beyond executives and traveling salespeople) will be issued tablets.