Millions of Media Tablets in 2010: Report

A pundit once described Apple CEO Steve Jobs as having an uncanny knack for spotting a parade and jumping out in front to lead it. That was certainly the case with smartphones, where Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has established itself as a leader among a "parade" of other established players.

Could the same thing happen in tablets?

Whether Apple will ultimately lead the field is far from clear, but a "Media Tablets" report released today by ABI Research makes the case that Apple is going a long way towards defining a fast-growing market with the recent unveiling of its iPad tablet.

"Apple's iPad is not the first media tablet," ABI analyst Jeff Orr said in a statement. "But it does help define this new device category. The main focus of media tablets is entertainment. A tablet will not replace a laptop, netbook, or mobile phone, but will remain an additional premium or luxury product for wealthy industrialized markets for at least several years."

The research firm defines media tablets as having features that include a touch-screen interface, between five and 11 inches in size, with Wi-Fi Internet connectivity and video and gaming capabilities. This year, ABI expects 4 million of these media tablets to ship from Apple and others. But it also expects the market to grow pretty quickly, growing to 57 million units in 2015.

"The biggest challenge faced by the media tablet category is how they will reach the market and generate awareness among potential buyers," Orr said. "New entrants to this market are at a disadvantage since they lack the retail relationships and network operator agreements already built by the more mature vendors. Surprisingly, Apple may have done them a favor by raising the public profile of the whole media tablet category."

Several tablets were announced at the giant Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month. ABI breaks these devices into two camps: traditional computer vendors such as Lenovo, HP, and Asus; and a number of new, smaller vendors such as ICD and Notion Ink. The vendors in the latter category are often quite small and relatively unknown, and they see this market as an entry point.

Orr predicted that Apple "will probably be a fairly sizeable player."

David Needle is the West Coast bureau chief at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.