The 2013 Nexus 7 currently supports T-Mobile and AT&T’s 4G LTE networks in the U.S., with the Verizon variant being delayed indefinitely due to lack of certification. But it now seems like this variant isn’t far away from launch, as a few leaked images have revealed the outer covering of the Nexus 7 with the Verizon branding prominently visible.
It’s Magic 8-Ball time here, as analysts continue to round-out 2013 by making predictions about what we can expect over the next year.
This time it’s analyst Canalys, which is forecasting that tablets will out-ship almost all other PC form factors combined in 2014 — representing around 50 percent of the total client PC market.
The Google Play Store has gotten a nice new update this week that makes it easier for tablet owners to find apps and games that are properly optimized for their device. A new “designed for tablets” section is now displayed by default when browsing the store, while apps that aren’t optimized for larger displays carry a “designed for phones” label.
It might have been the unsaid mission statement for quite some time, but now top executive Shin Jong-kyun has puts his cards on the table, telling analysts that after overtaking Apple in smartphones, Samsung aims to be the world leader in tablet computers, too.
Shin noted that Samsung tablet sales will exceed 40 million units this year — more than doubling the sales in 2012.
“Samsung tablet shipments started to grow remarkably since the second half of last year,” he said.
Following on from the news that Samsung shipped 2.6x the number of smartphones that Apple did last quarter, new figures released by research firm IDC show that Samsung tablet shipments grew by 123% to 9.7 million tablets over the same period. While Apple still leads the way with 29.6% of the tablet market, this is down considerably from the 40.2% share the company captured during this same quarter last year. Samsung meanwhile holds a company record 20.4% of the market, while Asus holds 7.4% (representing a 53% year on year increase). The two biggest growth companies for tablets are Acer and Lenovo — with their shipments increasing 346% and 420% respectively to represent 0.9% and 1.1% of the overall market.
