Gartner Predicts Demand For Tablets Will Continue To Wane In 2015

Technology research firm Gartner is predicting that solution providers and distributors will continue to see slowing demand for tablets in the coming year.

Gartner, in a study published Monday, predicted worldwide tablet sales will hit 233 million in 2015, growing just 8 percent compared to last year.

Sales of tablets such as Apple's iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, Nexus 7 and Acer Iconia Tab 8 have seen double-digit growth in the previous two years, which makes the sudden slowdown even more surprising, according to Gartner analysts.

[Related: CES 2015: 10 Tablets That Were A Notch Above The Rest]

In an interview, Mika Kitagawa, PC and tablet market analyst at Gartner, said one essential factor in the slow demand is the lifecycle of tablets.

"The replacement cycle of the tablet is not very short, it is probably longer than we expected," she said. "It looks like tablet-owners are holding their older devices rather than buying a new one every year or two years."

Many owners use their tablets as a secondary device, which could be another element contributing to slow market growth levels, she added.

Solution providers say the predicted slow demand for tablets will be counteracted by higher demand for other types of devices.

Rick Jordan, director of mobility sales and strategic alliances at Toronto-based Tenet Computer Group, an Hewlett-Packard and Blackberry partner, said he has seen a spike in demand for Ultrabooks such as the HP EliteBook, an ultra-thin Windows 8 notebook that can transform into a tablet.

"This could be the offshoot toward shorter tablet sales," he said. "Tablets pop in demand for educational tracks, but for enterprise clients, the notebooks are more flexible and give the best of both worlds."

While this doesn't necessarily mean a decrease in the demand for tablets, it outlines different client needs in various verticals, Jordan said.

"We don't push one technology product over the others, but we want to find out what clients are interested in, based on several variables," said Jordan.

Steven Pike, director of device and mobility services at Dallas, Tx.-based IT outsourcing specialist CompuCom, said he thinks the tablet market may be slowing down as it loses some of its novelty.

"I think the tablet's market is shifting… a lot of industries, such as retail and banking, will look to use these tablets as single-use devices to schedule appointments or look up products," Pike said.

Like Jordan, Pike said he has seen a rise in the popularity of Ultrabooks and the notebook market. He predicted that demand for connected device and multi-function models will continue to grow.

"I think we'll see more connected devices… the strength of Ultrabooks is that they are two-in-one, they serve both as a laptop and tablet," he said. "That's what consumers are looking for."