Samsung, which currently enjoys a huge market share of Android devices, will reportedly shift their focus in 2014. The South Korean manufacturer is said to be setting their sites on tablets, according to a report by EETimes. This comes on news that touch screen panel manufacturers are ramping up production of larger displays to meet demand.
With components such as mobile device displays, the production efforts usually starts much earlier due to the complexities of both design and manufacturing. According to “the industry” (probably the familiar “industry insiders”), Samsung began checking with their vendors to ascertain quantities and volume possibilities on November 17th of this year. While other components like cameras can be pinched from current technology, displays must be specially made in most cases.
Research from HIS is saying the tablet market for 2014 could rise to a total shipment of 263 million devices. That’s a 43% jump from last year, and a trend that is likely to continue past 2014. As smaller tablets drop in price, and consumers see the value of having them, the booming market is in no danger of shrinking any time soon.
Of course, as with any segment of mobile technology, Samsung is always gearing up to saturate the market in a big way. Samsung is also said to be ready to diversify their portfolio, and seek alternate manufacturers for displays to keep up with demand. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Kumho Electric, and BKE&T are all said to have made big investments in their operations recently in anticipation of the Samsung tablet display onslaught next year.
I hope this means the cost of these tablets will be low.