Having
previously ditched their desktop computers for laptops, U.S. college students
will most likely follow global trends for mobile computing and trade in most of
those laptops for tablet PCs. A new quarterly forecast from NPD DisplaySearch
anticipates tablet shipments will rocket from 256.5 million worldwide this year
to 579.4 million by 2017.
Students
have already expressed a preference for lightweight technology they can easily
tote all over campus. Like other consumers, they also have a penchant for
touchscreens, one of the reasons they’re gravitating to tablets. Another is the
availability of inexpensive no-name brands.
According
to NPD, these lower-cost “white-box” brands, many made in China, will
constitute about a third of all tablet shipments. Despite the cachet of owning
an iPad, Galaxy, or Surface, many purchasers don’t mind an off brand if they
can save big. And a cheapo model is less likely to be a magnet for theft.
Notebook
manufacturers are producing more hybrids, sliders, and convertibles that aim to
offer the best of both laptops and tablets. These machines allow users to
essentially toggle back and forth between laptop-style computing and a tablet
touchscreen. Some models have a single screen with a switching system. Others
have dual screens, with the touchscreen detachable. For a look at these
gadgets, check out an overview earlier this year by The Wall Street Journal’s Walter Mossberg.
While
shipments of notebooks with touch capabilities are minuscule at present, they
are expected to grow by leaps and bounds over the next few years, while
shipments of nontouch notebooks shrink, the NPD report said.
