Okay Geek Farm
Gorilla Glass manufacturer: 180 million tablets to be sold by 2014
Daniel Carey
Whether you like it or not, tablets are most definitely here to stay — which can be attributed thanks in part to their natural touch interface, performance of low-intensive computing, and most importantly, ability to bridge the gap between smartphones and desktops. Continuing to boom, one key supplier to OEMs, Corning, announced that the tablet market is growing at an inordinate rate.
New York — Corning, the NY-based glass manufacturer responsible for Gorilla Glass, is forecasting a total tablet boom raising from the 20 million units sold throughout 2010, to 180 million units sold by 2014. President of Corning Glass Technologies Group, James Clappin, pointed out in his statement to the press, that the PC market, which includes tablets, will grow at an annual rate of approximately 16%.
At present, you can find their super strength glass technology in such devices as the iPad, iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy Line, Galaxy Tab, and lastly the Dell Streak 5 and 7. Due to its current success, Corning officials have stated that Gorilla Glass is their fastest selling product. With Clappin noting that devices using cover glass technology will “quadruple over the next four years.”
Tablets certainly are a booming industry, with new wares being announced every other week, it is most definitely the now form factor. But while the marketplace is certainly growing at a rapid pace, I feel by 2014 we could be seeing more than 180 million units sold. With Android as a cost effective OS — thanks to its lack of a licence fee — we’ve seen a deluge of cheap Android tablets hit the Western market. And while they may not necessarily be worth purchasing, the fact that they’re still for sale indicates some demand for them.
What’s your opinion on the matter? Do you think tablets are going to sell as well as Corning claims, or do you think they will eventually fizzle out like the traditional netbook? Let us know in the comments below.
Header image courtesy of A. Marques on Flickr.
