Larger screen sizes in tablets are “gaining favor” as the tablet “transforms into a productivity device,” Strategy Analytics said Tuesday in a report. When and if Apple launches its large-screen iPad Pro, it would “join a market that is primed for growth” because of the success of Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 and larger 2-in-1 detachable tablets from PC vendors such as Acer, Asus and Lenovo, the research firm said. By 2019, global shipments of tablets with screen sizes 11 inches and larger will nearly double to 19.3 million units, it said. A “dramatic shift” toward larger screen sizes is underway “to accommodate more use cases” for tablets, said Peter King, Strategy Analytics service director-tablet and touch screen strategies. The “gulf” between PCs and tablets “is shrinking every day,” said Eric Smith, senior analyst-tablet and touch screen strategies. “Major vendors are pushing the boundaries of all three major mobile operating systems and hardware configurations,” transforming the tablet “into a content creation device,” Smith said.

Trade-in value for iPads ranks far ahead of that for competing tablets, said the Gazelle website, which is adding 20 percent to tablet trade-in value for a limited time. In a back-to-school offer to customers by email Wednesday, Gazelle said it's adding the 20 percent bonus to tablet trade-ins through Aug. 23, limited to one trade-in per customer. Sample payouts, based on capacity, condition and Wi-Fi or cellular versions: $55 for a first-gen 16GB, Wi-Fi iPad Mini in good condition, $60 with AT&T wireless; $155 for a 64GB Mini 3 in good condition; $280 for a 128GB Wi-Fi iPad Air 2 in flawless condition and $290 unlocked. Among the competition, Gazelle trade-in prices Wednesday were $15 for a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10-inch Wi-Fi in good condition, $20 flawless; $20 for a Galaxy Tab 3 8-inch in good condition, $30 flawless, $10 for a Galaxy Tab 3 7-inch on AT&T in good condition, $15 flawless; $25 for a Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch with 32GB memory; $33 for a 64GB Microsoft Surface RT with accessories; $70 for a 32GB Google Nexus in good condition, $80 flawless; and $33 for an Asus TF700 in good condition with accessories, said Gazelle. Widely published reports predict a 12.9-inch iPad launching late this year.

“Detachable” tablets sold in 2-in-1 convertible laptops have become “a bright spot” in an overall tablet market that's expected to decline by 4 percent in sales this year, Strategy Analytics said Wednesday in a report. PC vendors such as Acer, Asus and Hewlett-Packard “have found a niche in which they can credibly compete against mobile device heavyweights, as the segment is forecast to grow 91 percent over the next five years due to lower prices and better designs,” the research firm said. It estimates 2-in-1 tablets will show a 57 percent compound annual growth rate through 2019. The timing “could not be better” for 2-in-1 tablets, “as Windows 10 makes the multi-mode computing experience smoother,” Intel’s Skylake processors reach the market by year-end, and Windows tablets “have become more cost-competitive” with Android tablets, said Peter King, Strategy Analytics service director for tablets and touch screens. PC vendors have “refined” 2-in-1 tablets in the past year “to be affordable and functional,” said Senior Analyst Eric Smith. There’s “plenty of headroom for the segment to grow in the next five years,” as white box vendors “seek to differentiate their low-cost products,” Smith said.

Nvidia recalled its Shield tablet due to a potential fire hazard from the lithium-ion battery, said the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Friday. Consumers should stop using the tablet and contact Nvidia for instructions on receiving a free replacement, said the CPSC. Nvidia has received four reports of batteries overheating due to thermal runaway, including two reports of damage to flooring, said the CPSC. The recall covers about 83,000 8-inch tablets, including 5,000 sold in Canada, with the model numbers P1761, P1761W and P1761WX and serial numbers 0410215901781 through 0425214604018, said the CPSC. The tablets, manufactured in China, were sold at GameStop stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, GameStop.com, NewEgg.com, TigerDirect.com and other websites from July 2014 through July 2015 for between $300 and $400.

The worldwide tablet market continued its decline in Q2, falling 7 percent from the year-ago quarter due to “little hardware innovation” and “limited vendor portfolio updates,” said IDC. Apple continued to lead the market with nearly 25 percent share, but iPad shipments tumbled 18 percent in the quarter to 11 million, compared with Q2 2014, said IDC. No. 2 Samsung's shipments dropped 12 percent to 7.6 million. Apple’s share shrunk from 27.7 percent to 24.5 percent in the quarter, while Samsung’s share slipped from 18 percent to 17 percent, said IDC. A “profound shift in the vendor landscape” showed Apple and Samsung’s combined share dropping from 45 to 41 percent while the share of vendors LG, Huawei and E FUN grew, said analyst Jean Philippe Bouchard. The top five vendors had 54 percent of the market, down from 58 percent in Q2 2014, said Bouchard. Huawei broke into the top five ranking for the first time, and E FUN re-entered the top 10 after more than a year, he said. Lenovo maintained the three spot, shipping 2.5 million units, with 5.7 percent market share. Huawei (3.7 percent share) and LG (3.6 percent share) were virtually tied in fourth place, with each shipping 1.6 million tablets. Share outside the top five outpaced the market with 46 percent of total tablet shipments in Q2, said IDC. Longer life cycles, competition from larger smartphones and the ability for users to install the latest operating systems on older tablets “has stifled the initial enthusiasm for these devices in the consumer market," said analyst Jitesh Ubrani. Newer form factors, including 2-in-1s, and added productivity features could bring new vitality to “a market that has lost its momentum," said Ubrani.

As fall 2015 tablets roll out, marketers are using back-to-school pegs to spur sales in the slowing category. Office Depot announced Tuesday that the Microsoft Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3 tablets are available for purchase online, while AT&T said it will be the first carrier to offer the Surface 3 when it begins selling the cellular version Friday. The Surface 3, with a 10.8-inch screen, will start at $499 at Office Depot, it said, saying the device can alternate from tablet to laptop when users disconnect the tablet from the keyboard. Battery life of the Surface 3, at nine hours with a Micro USB charger, rivals that of a smartphone, said the retailer. The Surface Pro, with a 12-inch HD screen, starts at $999, and includes an Intel Core i5 processor, 128 GB storage and 4 GB RAM. Weight is 1.76 pounds, said Office Depot. AT&T will begin selling the Microsoft 4G LTE Surface 3 tablet Friday for $0 down and $30 monthly over 20 months with an AT&T tablet installment plan, the carrier said Tuesday. Also, in a limited time deal, customers can buy the Surface 3 for $399 when they buy a Lumia smartphone purchased with the AT&T Next plan, it said. Price of the Surface 3 with a two-year contract is $499, and it’s $599 without a contract, said AT&T. Features include Microsoft Office, Windows 8.1, an Intel Atom x7 processor, 64 GB embedded storage and a surface pen, said AT&T. IDC predicted earlier this year (see 1503120021) that Microsoft tablets would see a boost with the arrival of Windows 10 later this year. The Surface models announced Tuesday are Windows 8.1 models upgradeable to Windows 10 when the upgrade is released. IDC predicted Microsoft would gain “significant share” in the tablet market, growing from 5.1 percent last year to 14.1 percent in 2019.

Samsung announced its next-generation Galaxy Tab S2 tablet, which it called its lightest and thinnest ever. The S2 has a Super AMOLED 2048 x 1536-pixel display and uses adaptive display technology, which auto-adjusts gamma, saturation and sharpness to the environment, said the company. A reading mode modifies brightness levels to reduce eye strain, it said. The tablet, with 3 GB RAM, uses Android 5.0 and a 1.9 GHz + 1.3 GHz octa-core processor, said Samsung, Features include an 8-megapixel rear camera, 2.1-megapixel front camera and a preloaded Microsoft Office suite with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, the company said. The 8- and 9.7-inch tablets have touch-enabled fingerprint scanners for authentication, and built-in anti-malware for extra protection, said Samsung. A multitasking feature enables users to view and run two apps simultaneously. Prices weren't given for the tablets, which will be available in Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi/LTE versions with 32- or 64-GB storage. The S2 will ship worldwide next month, said Samsung.

In branded tablets, there’s “no denying the market is losing its momentum and leading vendors are feeling the squeeze,” ABI Research said in a Monday report that said tablet shipments in Q1 registered their largest declines since the category’s 2009 inception. It estimates shipments dipped 35 percent sequentially from Q4 and 16 percent from Q1 a year earlier. The slowdown “does not necessarily mean the end of the tablet market,” ABI said. “Tablets are still popular among consumer households and even have a practical purpose for many businesses and the education sector,” the firm said, describing tablets as a market in search of a “niche.”

Revenue in Barnes & Noble’s Nook segment fell 40 percent in Q4 to $52 million, the company said in an earnings report. Annual Nook revenue plummeted 48 percent to $264 million. Device and accessories sales dropped to $13 million for the quarter and $86 million for the full year, declining 48 percent and 67 percent on lower unit selling volume, said the company. Digital content sales were $40 million for the quarter and $177 million for the year, falling 37 percent from the year-ago quarter and 28 percent from the prior year on lower device unit sales, said the company. On Thursday's Q4 earnings call, CEO Mike Huseby called Nook’s relationship with Samsung for the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook “excellent,” while saying tablet sales industrywide -- “particularly those that are focused on reading” -- have dropped “fairly dramatically” in the past year. Q4 Nook margins improved on a higher mix of higher margin content sales, lower occupancy cost and higher device-related margins, said Chief Financial Officer Allen Lindstrom. Nook expenses, meanwhile, shrank $35 million for the quarter and $97 million for the year, he said. Nobody is “giving up” on Nook, said Huseby, saying the company is instead trying to improve on digital content and stabilize the revenue picture for content. Margin improved on a focus on content versus devices, said Huseby. He cited “substantial opportunities” to stem Nook losses, cautioning that will take time. Losses have improved in the past three years from nearly $500 million to $218 million to $86 million, he said.

Amazon updated its Kindle Paperwhite e-reader with a higher resolution display, a new font and an upgraded typesetting engine while maintaining the $119 price tag, it said in a Wednesday news release. The display doubles the number of pixels from the previous Paperwhite, and the Bookerly font was designed for “readability at any size,” said Amazon. A “more graceful look” is said to promote faster reading with less eyestrain. The new typesetting engine supports correct hyphenation and better spacing and character placement, Amazon said. The company is taking pre-orders for the new Paperwhite reader due for release June 30.