Sales of tablet computers like Apple’s iPad are expected to soar from nearly 20 million units this year to 55 million next year and more than 208 million in 2014, market research firm Gartner said on Friday.
Gartner said North America would account for 61 percent of tablet computer sales this year, but its share would drop to 43 percent in 2014.
Gartner forecast worldwide tablet computer sales of 19.5 million units this year, 54.8 million units next year and more than 208 million units in 2014.
Apple began selling its iPad in April and a number of other companies have announced plans to begin producing the multimedia devices, which can be used to surf the Web, read electronic books, watch video and more.
Gartner said the explosion in tablet computers would affect sales of devices in other segments, including netbook computers, the small laptops also known as mini-notebooks.
“The all-in-one nature of media tablets will result in the cannibalization of other consumer electronics devices such as e-readers, gaming devices and media players,” Gartner research vice president Carolina Milanesi said.
“Mini-notebooks will suffer from the strongest cannibalization threat as media tablet average selling prices drop below US$300 over the next two years,” Milanesi said.
In related news, the New York Times unveiled a new application for Apple’s iPad on Friday, offering it for free for now, but with plans to start charging for it early next year.
The “NYTimes App for iPad,” available from Apple’s App Store, replaces a previous application, the “Editors’ Choice App,” which offered only a limited selection from the newspaper.
The Times Co said it would start charging for the new iPad application when it begins making readers pay early next year for full access to the newspaper’s Web site, NYTimes.com. Pricing details have not yet been set.
US newspapers have been seeking new revenue streams and developing Internet products amid a steady decline in print advertising revenue and circulation and the migration of readers to free news on the Web.
The Times Co said the Editors’ Choice App had been downloaded more than 650,000 times since its launch in April.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
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