Tablet shipments to surpass PCs by 2016

MSN writes.

NPD's findings jibe with those from Forrester Research, which recently also cited 2016 as a tipping-point year, when tablets will become the "preferred primary device for millions of people around the world".

WA Today notes that a key driver for tablet growth is adoption in North America, Japan and Western Europe, which will account for 66% of shipments in 2012 and remain in the 60% range throughout the next few years, NPD said.

"Consumer preference for mobile computing devices is shifting from notebook to tablet PCs, particularly in mature markets," said Richard Shim, analyst at NPD.

In its most recent quarterly survey on mobile devices, NPD said in May that Apple's iPad had 62.8% of the tablet market, with Samsung a distant second at 7.5%.