Best Buy CEO Says Tablet Sales are “Crashing”

"Tablets boomed and now are crashing, says Hubert Joly, Best Buy CEO. What that means is not entirely clear. As recently as 2011, Forrester Research analysts had been underestimating tablet sales growth.



And some recent forecasts have called for compound annual growth rates of about 37 percent through 2017. 



Over the next five years, the installed base of tablets in use will grow from 87 million in 2012 to 411.6 million in 2017, according to Daniel Research Group. 



Up to this point, virtually no researchers have forecast an actual decline in tablet sales. So the issue is whether the sales software is a Best Buy issue, a U.S. issue or a broader issue globally. 



Some might argue consumers who find tablets useful largely already have bought. 



Others will argue the "phablet," a smartphone with a large screen, provides much of the same functionality. 



And there is at least some evidence consumers are, in fact, finding much of the value of a tablet is provided by a phablet. That seems to be happening in India, for example.