Tablet sales to outpace notebooks

SAN FRANCISCO—More than 240 million tablet PCs are expected to ship in 2013, easily exceeding the 207 million notebook PCs projected to ship during the year, according to market research firm NPD Group DisplaySearch.

Shifting market dynamics in the tablet market—which has been dominated by Apple Inc. since the original iPad was launched in 2010—are leading to a greater variety of choices for consumers. Tablet shipments are projected to grow 64 percent in 2013 compared to 2012, DisplaySearch (Santa Clara, Calif.) said.  

DisplaySearch projects that tablets will continue to outsell notebooks for the next few years. By 2017, the firm expects that the number of tablets sold will exceed the number of notebooks sold by nearly three to one.