Shipments of traditional PC-type tablet PCs will be dwarfed by the newer media-type tablets like the iPad, with the media category outshipping the PC variety by a factor of 10 during the period from 2010 to 2015, according to IHS iSuppli (http://www.isuppli.com).

From 2010 to 2015, a total of 888.7 million media tablets will be shipped, compared to just 88.8 million PC tablets. A total of 45.2 million PC tablets will be shipped in 2015, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 81.5% from 2.3 million units in 2010. In contrast, media tablets will reach 262.1 million units by 2015, rising at a 72.1 percent CAGR from 17.4 million units in 2010.

Media tablets, built on ARM microprocessors and utilizing mobile operating systems, have already surged past the 25 million sales mark -- easily surpassing the last decade’s worth of fully configured PC tablet sales, says iSuppli.

“While there’s clearly a need for tablet PCs with full PC functionality, the media-type tablet pioneered by the Apple Inc. with the iPad will reign supreme during for at least the next five years,” says Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research at IHS. “Because the tablet form factor will favor media consumption -- rather than content creation -- media tablets will massively outsell their PC-type tablet alternatives.”