Tablet Solves Question of what a "Mobile Internet Device" Looks Like

As recently as a year ago, you could have heard quite a lot about the impact "netbooks" would have on the overall PC industry. Before that you'd have heard about "mobile Internet devices."

For most of 2010, all you've heard about is "tablets," especially the iPad, for good reasons. The hypothesized market for MIDs has surfaced, and though some believed the netbook could evolve into a mass market MID, it now appears the "tablet" PC is what much of the market considers a MID to be.

Not surprisingly, much talk now centers on how much cannibalization tablets will cause in the rest of the market. IDC now forecasts that worldwide mini notebook shipments will be 37.8 million units in 2010, up 10.3 percent from 2009.

Over the next four years, the compound annual growth rate for the worldwide mini notebook market will be 4.3 percent, topping out at 42.4 million units shipped in 2014.

IDC - Press Release - prUS22565510