Tablet Shipments to Hit 55M this Year, Continue Explosive Growth

The booming tablet industry shows no signs of letdown, with shipments of the devices expected to more than triple this year over last, according to a study released by a London-based market research firm.
In its report, "Tablets, Viva La Evolution!," Juniper Research estimated that tablet shipments will increase from 17.6 million tablets in 2010 to 55.2 million this year. How many of those shipped tablets will be sold, though, remains to be estimated.
Juniper predicts that the tablet market will explode over the next five years, with shipments reaching 253 million units in 2016 -- more than four times what they are today. Most of those shipments will be in the developed world, which has the consumer spending power and wireless infrastructure to support sales of the devices.