The tablet market in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has grown 175.6% year on year in the second quarter of 2013, according to the latest results from IDC. Tablet shipments totaled 3.6 million units in the quarter, making the region among the strongest growing markets around the world.
Android tablets captured 84% of the total CEE tablet market, accounting for over 3 million shipments. Shipments of iOS-based devices, on the other hand, decreased by 9.2 percentage points year on year, while Windows and Windows RT devices increased sharply, although these start from a low base in the previous quarter. Other (non-Android) Linux-based devices driven by white box vendors in Russia and Ukraine also found their customers thanks to an affordable price tag of less than $80.
The great news is that the growth seen in the second quarter of the year shows no sign of slowing. By the end of 2013, the tablet market is expected to reach a total volume of nearly 15 million units shipped, up 105% from the previous year. Over the five-year forecast period, the market is expected to post a CAGR of 28.6% to reach 25.6 million shipments by 2017.
“Tablet shipments are driven by low price tags, portability, ease of use, and the increasing popularity of social media applications. As a result, tablets are expected to surpass portable PCs in volume terms in the last quarter of 2013,” said Nikolina Jurisic, a program manager with IDC CEMA.
Android will remain the most popular platform on tablets until the end of the forecast period, Windows will gain traction, accounting for 9.2% market share in 2017, whereas Windows RT will reach only 1.0% share. Finally, iOS tablets will account for around 13% of the total market by the end of 2017.