ABI Research: iPad sales are expected to reach 68 million units in 2014

ABI Research estimates that iPad sales in 2014 will be 68 million units, down from 74 million in 2013 .

CNBC quoted data from ABI Research and reported that based on past experience, Apple's iPad sales in the last quarter usually account for 35% of the annual sales. Therefore, unless Apple can deliver more than 32 million units this quarter, iPad sales in 2014 will be the first annual sales decline since the product was launched.

Not only Apple, but also Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Google will see their tablet sales decline this year. In contrast, Samsung, the world's second largest tablet manufacturer, is expected to ship 43 million units this year, better than 38 million units in 2013. Others such as Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG and Microsoft will also see sales increase this year.

In terms of tablet operating systems, Android still ranks first in market share, estimated to reach 54% for the whole year, followed by Apple iOS with 41%. Windows 8 accounts for 5% of total shipments.

ABI predicts that the overall tablet sales will grow by 16% to 194 million units in 2015. The growth trend is expected to continue for the next five years, and tablet shipments are expected to reach nearly 290 million units in 2019.

ABI believes that there are three main reasons for the recovery in tablet growth. The first is the increase in corporate use. The second is the clearer and more classified product portfolios of major manufacturers. The third is that the manufacturers' preferential marketing has been accepted by the lagging users in mature markets.

On the other hand, the sales of tablet phones jumped significantly this Christmas, which may be the reason for the decline in tablet sales. According to data from marketing analysis company Flurry, 11% of new phones were launched as standard-sized tablets in the week ending Christmas. On Christmas Day, 11% of new phones were launched as small tablets, slightly lower than last year's 12%. Flurry pointed out that Apple's tablet phone iPhone 6 was one of the top five new products launched on Christmas.