With the imminent release of the stunning new iPad 3 the market is gearing up for a hot n' heavy 2012 with no signs of slowing down in 2013. Global demand for tablet PC's of all styles will rise to 130 million in 2013 according to reports from Taiwanese supply chain makers.
Last year global tablet PC shipments peaked at 60 million and Apple accounted for 40 million, showing their incredible strength in this sector. Tablet PC sales are expected to hit 95 million in 2012 with more growth in 2013.
Much of the sales in 2012 will be driven by Apple, as the new iPad 3 will attract a wide audience thanks to the super high resolution 2048×1536 screen and quad core GPU processing power from the new A5x processor.
The potential for the iPad 3 as a very serious gaming tool will have serious ramifications for the gaming industry as it will cause sales problems for Sony and Nintendo with their latest handheld gaming consoles.
The fact that the iPad 3 store infrastructure will offer cheap , casual games attracts a very family oriented audience who are able to download in the comfort of their living room. Professional game studios will also find the new quad core GPU and super high resolution screen very enticing, with the potential for reaching many millions of customers via the Apple store.
Make no mistake, Sony and Nintendo will both be very concerned right now about their sales projections in the next 18 months.
Kitguru says: iPad 3 we predict will be the single biggest gaming machine over the next year.
A very good point, and true. I think nintendo already announced that the iPad 2 hurt them badly over the last year. this will kill them and sony.
I know the ipad is around £500, but look what you get compared to the sony vita at £230. its double the price b ut offers much better hardware and a much wider selection of apps and games. no competition.
I havent bought a game outside the apple store since I bought the iPad 2. im selling it now on ebay and preordering V3 due to the screen and GPU power.
WHy? I pay most games on it, and I cant wait to see what the bigger game publishing companies come up with to target this new hardware.
Playstation vita for £240? games for £30 each? without 90% of the iPad functionality? no thanks.
The only thing that I find missing from the iPad (besides the fact it cant fit in a pocket) or from the iPod Touch (which could be bigger, ex 5.25 inches screen, while still fitting in a pocket) is the lack of physical buttons you can touch and thus feel the control for precision without looking. On the other hand I dont want many devices so a Vita like new iPod Touch (or iPhone) that would be bigger than the current iPod Touch while small enough to fit in a pocket and with physical buttons while retaining the touch screen and all the functionality and the current iPod Touch apps (iPhone/iPad) would be great. This said, if I have to choose between a device that does almost everything (contacts, videos, word processing, painting, dictionary, and the kitchen sink app) and one that only does one thing its an easy choice.
Is this a joke? Until tablets and phones start coming with analog stick and a decent amount of buttons they’ll NEVER hurt consoles.
Touch screen game controls just plain suck.