IDC: Tablet shipments in Europe to reach 11m by 2019

The commercial market for tablets is expected to reach more than 11m units by 2019 in Western Europe.

According to figures published by analyst firm IDC, the market would see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 130 percent over the next four years, making the area a “significant opportunity for device makers”. This is despite the analysts registering the first year-on-year decline for tablets in the last quarter of 2014.

While sales volumes stagnated last year, the enterprise market is expected to thrive this year with lower prices and more innovative features introduced into tablets.

According to the firm’s latest survey of tablets in enterprises, their adoption rate is expected to double between 2014 and 2015 and to grow significantly until the end of the forecast period.

“Tablets are used in companies of all sizes,” says Chrystelle Labesque, research manager, IDC EMEA Personal Computing. “While the first perception might have been that tablets were entering enterprises mostly as employees were bringing in their own devices, the reality is that more than two-thirds of the enterprises surveyed in France, Germany, and UK have already deployed tablets.”

IDC said that tablets that doubled up as laptops were meeting productivity needs as well as improving battery life was helping to increase penetration of the devices into corporate and SMB areas.

It also said the launch of Windows 10 will help “facilitate the integration of the device as a notebook replacement, additional mobile device, or computing device in the new era of digital processing”. The analyst firm noted that Apple’s partnership with IBM and Google’s Android for Work were indications of the growing relevance of tablets in enterprises.

“Increasing employees' productivity is the main driver behind tablet adoption in enterprises,” says Marta Fiorentini, senior research analyst, IDC EMEA Personal Computing.

“As more companies embrace digital transformation and their workforce become increasingly mobile, tablets have clearly emerged as a winning form factor to provide computing power for new users and processes in enterprises. The commercial segment is therefore expected to grow significantly in the coming quarters. This will support overall market stabilisation in 2015 and will drive tablet penetration further and beyond the forecast period.”