Europe to swallow 22 million tablets in 2011

European tablet sales will grow from six million units in 2010 to almost four times as many in 2011, according to the latest stats from IDC.

The analyst firm said that EMEA is a significant consumer of the devices, accounting for a third of all global sales last year.

Much of this growth is down to the popularity of the Apple iPad, but new entrants are also expected to drive sales as will increased enterprise interest in tablets, according to IDC.

Apple shipped some five million iPads in Europe last year, and the figures are likely to increase as it looks to sell its new iPad 2 and offload the older model. Meanwhile, later entrants will have an impact as will seasonal offers and traditional sales spikes.

"IDC forecasts the EMEA media tablet market to more than triple in 2011 to reach 22 million units," said Eszter Morvay, research manager at IDC's personal computing group.

"A plethora of new products is expected to hit the market in the coming months and will drive further buoyancy around the media tablet category and create an additional demand vacuum in the second half of 2011 for the back-to-school and Christmas seasons."

Apple's healthy sales figures and its 80 per cent share of the European market is likely to continue throughout the year, but competition, inspired by the release of the Android 3.0 Honeycomb platform, will provide a stiff challenge, said the analyst.

Samsung is likely to increase its sales over the year with its Tab products, while vendors including Acer and Asus, which have been waiting for the most advanced Google OS, and HP and RIM are also likely to mount a challenge.

"User experience will, however, be key in customers' choices and, while a fierce battle is expected between vendors, the battle will clearly also be placed around the OS," said Karine Paoli, associate vice president for IDC client computing.

An increased interest from enterprise buyers could also help sales of tablets by the more traditional vendors, as companies wake up to the productivity benefits.