According to market research firm ABI Research, tablet sales will increase about three percent through 2020, a slow prediction of growth, but growth nonetheless.

"Although the outlook for tablets has turned slightly grim of late — with sales in 2015 dropping to about $55 billion compared with $68 billion in 2014 — market research firm ABI Research is still calling for a compound annual growth rate of about 3 percent through 2020. That's down slightly from the previous forecast, but still positive,” said THEJournal.com.

Indeed, despite edtech’s latest conversation piece, Google Chromebook, taking over in classrooms across the country (30,000 new devices are reportedly activated every day), tablet use is not dead.

According to a report from EdNET Insight, " tablet purchases are planned for nearly nine in 10 (87 percent) districts. As the grade level goes down, the investment in tablets goes up. At the K-2 level, 68 percent of districts intend to purchase tablets; at the 3-5 grade level it's 56 percent; for middle school it's 40 percent; and for high school it's 36 percent,” said THEJournal.com.

But tablet purchase nonetheless have taken a beating from the mighty Chromebook.

"While tablet purchase as a priority fell to 31 percent of districts, Chromebook acquisition specifically jumped by 17 percentage points in 2015 and has become a high priority for 49 percent of districts,” the article said.

So while tablet sales will increase in the next few years, the slow growth is still a cause for concern regardless.

"We expect the global installed base to decline primarily due to older devices in most developed market economies aging out faster after purchase than replacement devices being acquired and new products being shipped into emerging market economies," according to Jeff Orr, research director at ABI Research to THEJournal.com.

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

1/20/2016