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Research firm IDC today published ^[2] updated 2013 estimates for worldwide tablet shipments. The company increased its estimates from 172.4 million to 190.9 million units for the year and claims that shipments of Android-based tablets will continue to rise and eat into Apple’s marketshare. IDC notes that Android will take 48.8 percent of the worldwide tablet market by the end of this year, compared to 41.5% in its previous forecast, while Apple is predicted to capture 46.0%, down from 51% in 2012.

IDC expects that Windows-based tablets will grow from 1% to 7.4% by 2017 at the expense of Android and iOS. Research Analyst for IDC’s Tablet Tracker Jitesh Ubrani said:

 “One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8 inches in screen size. And in terms of shipments, we expect smaller tablets to continue growing in 2013 and beyond.

Vendors are moving quickly to compete in this space as consumers realize that these small devices are often more ideal than larger tablets for their daily consumption habits.”