Hottest market for tablets? Asia

In a Wednesday forecast report on the worldwide tablet industry, Yankee Group noted that global tablet revenues are expected to increase from US$16 billion in 2010 to US$46 billion in 2014. Yankee Group analyst Dmitriy Molchanov described the growth of tablets as "unprecedented", adding that tablet sales are rising faster than that of HDTVs, handheld gaming consoles or MP3 players.

The Asia-Pacific region, particularly China, will account for 58 percent of the global market revenues three years from now, said the firm. According to the report, the region's rise will overshadow current market leader, North America, which will see its share drop from 37 percent in 2010 to 17 percent by 2014.

The same report noted that in the United States, tablet sales will reach 30 million units by 2015 compared to last year's 8 million units, representing a compound annual growth rate of 31 percent during the five-year period.

For more on this story, read APAC to lead tablet revenues by 2014 on ZDNet Asia.