First Windows 8 tablets are set to hit the store shelves later this year and ABI Research predicts that their early success will largely depend on the price. According to the research company, Windows-based tablets will capture an estimated 1.5% of total tablet shipments for 2012. And if priced aggressively towards current Android tablets, these devices could see 2013 shipments increase 10-fold year-over-year. On the other hand, if priced like Apple’s iPad, Windows tablets may only double or triple shipments in 2013. Unsurprisingly, ABI expects that the growth comes from businesses adopting tablets, which is expected to be a strong area for Windows 8.
At the moment, the media tablet space is a two-horse race of devices powered by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. Microsoft has a decent chance of emerging as a third player, especially among the enterprise users with the help of Windows 8 Pro, which could catapult Microsoft into a mobile computing leadership position.
We’ll see how that goes and in the meantime you can check out ABI Research’s website for additional details on their report…