Sale of tablets in Brazil should fall in 2015, says IDC

The sale of tablet computers in Brazil should fall 2 percent this year, to about 9.3 million units, after a 2014 with underwhelming result for the segment, said the IDC consultancy Brazil, on Monday.
"Our projection is more conservative due to the uncertainty that surrounds the education projects that will be implemented by the federal Government, the volatility of the dollar and by the economic conjuncture," said IDC analyst Peter Hagge Brazil.
In 2014, sales of tablets in Brazil rose 13 percent, to about 9.5 million units, but the result was underwhelming by IDC, which estimated sales of at least 10 million units last year.
"The tablet is no longer a novelty and there is a ' cannibalization ' of the market, primarily by phablets releases (smart phones with larger screens). This, combined with the bad experience of use of low-quality appliances, impacted the performance, "said Hagge.
He also pointed out that the World Cup, the elections and the high of the dollar at the end of the year had an impact on sales of tablets in the country.
Of the total number of tablets sold in 2014, 96 percent of sales were to the final consumer, 4 percent for the corporate market and 0.3 per cent (31 thousand units) corresponded to notebooks with detachable screens, reported IDC Brazil.
In 2014, the price range that most stood out was that of tablets up to 500 reais, with about 85 percent of handsets sold.
Devices that cost between 500 and 1 thousand dollars accounted for 10 percent, and the above 1 thousand reais, just 5 percent of the total sales volume.
Between October and December last year, were sold about 3 million tablets in the country.
In comparison with the same period in 2013, there was no growth, however, considering the performance of the third quarter of 2014, the market had a high of 30 percent.