The global tablet processor market will continue to slow this year, says Taiwan’s MIC, based on a saturated market; phablet competition; and low-cost notebook popularity. The market will reach the point of stagnation ‘in the next few years’.
Following three years of growth, tablet processor shipments only rose 1.3% YoY in 2014, MIC’s data shows. Analyst Joen Yang explains that application processors for tablets can be divided into several clear segments. International brands often choose energy-efficient units from Nvidia and Intel for their mid-range and high-end products. Chinese white-box makers use processors from firms such as MediaTek and Allwinner, targeting the mid-range and value markets. Apple and Samsung use their own custom processors.
So far, international shipments of branded tablets using China-made processors remains ‘insignificant’.
