DisplaySearch, a research firm, notes that consumers are now showing an increased interest in smaller tablets like the iPad mini and Nexus 7, as opposed to conventional 10 inch tablets. At first the tablet market was defined by Apple’s original iPad, which came with a 9.7 inch display. Apple’s dominance in the market continued for quite a while before Amazon and Google came out with their own alternatives, which were aggressively priced and had smaller screens. Many thought that consumers won’t tilt towards tablets with relatively less screen real estate, but as it turns out, the aggressive pricing brought in scores of new consumers, and then some.
The firm reports that out of 27 million tablet panel shipments in March, almost 48% were 7 inch tablet panels. One factor of this growth is increased interest of consumers in emerging markets, where a lot of manufacturers are selling tablets for under $100. This trend will reportedly continue, and manufacturers seem to have taken note of it as well. A couple of them are reportedly readying tablets that will retail in all markets for as low as $99, they’ll be touting 7 inch screens. Apple too is expected to release a cheaper iPad mini to capture this particular market.