Global tablet shipments expected to reach 289M in 2014, DigiTimes says

According to DigiTimes Research, global tablet shipments are expected to rise 23.6 percent in 2014 to total 289 million units. The large growth rate, however, pales in comparison in smartpone growth as the table market has already entered the maturity stage. Apple's AAPL recently introduced fifth-generation iPad Air is expected to reach “only 80 million units.” The iPad comes with a heavy price tag with a lot of sales aimed at current iPad owners looking to upgrade to the latest model. Samsung is set to adopt a more aggressive marketing and pricing strategies as the second largest global manufacture of tablets aims to widen the gap with the first place Apple. The company is expected to ship 52.5 million units worldwide. The title of the third largest tablet manufacture will be held by Lenovo. Lenovo is currently the world's largest PC vendor worldwide and has tremendous advantages in its home market of China. The company is expected to ship 9.5 million units in the coming year. The fourth largest manufacturer will be Asustek Computer. The Taiwanese based manufacture is expected to begin selling its own-brand tablets. The company is projected to sell nine million units next year. Google GOOG was indicated to become the fifth largest vendor. Smaller players like Amazon.com AMZN and Microsoft MSFT are not expected to gain any market share or grow “only slightly” in the coming year. Digitimes Research noted that 7-inch models will remain the “mainstream” size for tablets in 2014 while some vendors will attempt to differentiate themselves with 8-inch devices. 7-inch tablets are “crowded with low-price and white-box products.”