2012 was all about tablets for the consumer market as this area rocketed with rising demand for these devices, yet we are now on the verge of a similar boom in the business arena.

Over the past 18 months, manufacturers such as Samsung have really got into their stride, coming out with increasingly exciting features and functionality for these diverse smart devices. The likes of Samsung have been competing successfully and have even surpassed the leader of the tablet world, Apple.

However, as with the smartphone market, which had its roots in consumer pockets before being carried into the workplace and becoming a necessity for business life, I am expecting to see experiential growth in business-to-business( B2B) sales of tablets. Products are now beginning to emerge aimed specifically at this market, and as companies as well as their employees begin to see ever more reasons to use a tablet for work purposes, the tidal wave of demand is only going to grow.

More than 39 million tablets shipped globally in the first quarter of 2013 according to ABI Research, representing the second largest volume of shipments to date. The previous quarter at the end of 2012 was the highest period of tablet sales so far globally, helped on by the seasonal shopping spend.

ABI stated that a combination of the spending power of the largest three world regions – North America, Western Europe, and Asia-Pacific – and the availability of new, higher cost Windows devices from PC OEMs, are driving this market awareness and growth. The three big spending global regions will create 97 per cent of total tablet revenues in 2013, ABI noted, with North America taking around half of the estimated $ 72 billion cash, while Western Europe and Asia-Pacific will split the rest.

ABI says the broader availability of Windows-based tablets is set to fuel this growth, which has the business owners of this world as its target market. I agree that the new Windows Phone-based tablet slew available now is definitely set to appeal to business users.

Android At Micro-P, Android has been the big selling operating system on tablets to date, but this has been predominantly because of the consumer market preference for the open operating system. Last year, 95 per cent of our tablet sales that totalled over 750,000 were Android. This year we expect the split to be 65 per cent Android

Woodman – experiential growth to come in business-to-business tablet market

and 35 per cent Windows of our expected two million tablet shipments, and next year I believe this will level out 50 / 50 while tablet volumes rise exponentially and significantly, as Windows opens new doors into the lucrative business market.

I expect to see a lot more from Microsoft and its partners in the tablet space going forward, and this will undoubtedly impact the business world. What could be better than a device that slots neatly into your existing work ecosystem?

Tablet growth Analysts have also seen tablets sales overall continuing to rise rapidly. In 2013 tablet sales will be up by more than a third year on year with Android gaining fast on Apple’ s iPads, said ABI. Record unit shipments and revenues were reported by device vendors in 2012, yet the trend has continued into 2013; this year around 150 million tablets, up 38 per cent year on year, are forecasted to ship globally worth an estimated $ 64 billion, a figure that is up 28 per cent from 2012 in potential end user revenues, according to ABI.

Around 60 per cent of last year’ s tablet shipments used Apple’ s iOS, while 37 per cent were based on Google’ s Android or development forks of Android, such as those found on Amazon’ s Kindle Fire e-reader, added ABI. The remaining three per cent operating system share in 2012 consisted of Windows( Windows 7, 8, or RT), BlackBerry Tablet OS and others.

Opportunity Mobile dealers therefore have a massive opportunity ahead of them. Selling a tablet into a business is not a simple unit sale, as it is with the consumer segment; a lot more detail is involved, from airtime to integration to security, to apps.

An increasing number of apps aimed at business users will also aid B2B tablet growth. The mobile app market will be valued at $ 27 billion in 2013 driven by tablet

2012

2013

Android Windows

2014

Tablets from Micro-P include:

Sony Xperia Tablet Z

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

Lenovo Thinkpad

devices pushing app downloads, a study from ABI has shown. In fact, revenue from apps on smartphones, which has until now dwarfed the sales of apps for tablets, is about to turn; ABI says that tablet revenues are quickly catching up with those for apps sold on smartphones, and it is projected that tablet app revenues will overtake smartphones by 2017.

Apps The reason for this, ABI says, is tablet users will pay more for apps than smartphone users, because of the larger screen size and better user experience for gaming and reading. Add to that the business user who needs specific apps to aid work and efficiency, and a budget to spend on apps on top, and you have fuel for the fire.

Mobile dealers can expect to see a huge range of B2B tablets out by this coming Q4, priced from £ 200 to £ 2,000 as the market widens to suit a broader range of business requirements. There will be a lot more choice, and for Micro-P, as we are already a leading tablet distributor with a plethora of big-name brands and some up-and-coming labels in our portfolio, plus our dedication to the Windows Phone operating system, you can expect us to be ready to support the channel as it moves into this expanding, profitable market.

When looking at a new area such as B2B tablet sales, it is important to be able to not only receive support and advice, but also to have a distribution partner that listens to customer needs, that works on channel engagement programmes, and that can help to predict trends and future opportunities so that we are all ready to take advantage. That is where Micro-P comes in; this is about people buying into an entire device experience, a complete wrap of functionality and services across all the screens, and a solid partnership.

MN 2013-0730 Guest Article. indd 30 24 / 07 / 2013 17:07