Tablet PC sales in Romania will most likely reach 40,000 units in Romania by the end of this year, and Apple's iPad will cover 40 percent of sales, according to estimations from Asus Romania, quoted by Ziarul Financiar. Around 16,000 iPads were sold in Romania this year, with a total value of EUR 11 million.

The market will most likely grow two- or three-fold next year, estimates Ciprian Donciu, sales manager of Asus Romania. Asus has a 10 percent market share on the tablet PC segment in Romania this year and hopes to increase it to 25 percent.

Samsung's Android-based tablet PC is another competitor for Asus' tablets and Apple's iPad. Amazon has recently launched Kindle Fire, which can be ordered in Romania as well.

PC sales started to surge worldwide after the launch of tablet PCs, as the new products moved from the early adopters to mass consumption. Worldwide media tablet shipments are expected to be approximately 69 million in 2011,according to research firm Gartner. The tablet market will grow from next to zero in 2009 to more than 320 million units sold in 2015, Gartner has estimated.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Apple)