Tablet manufacturers cut back on orders to the supply chain as shipments are expected to slip

Strong sales of larger-screened handsets like phablets are still expected to eat into tablet manufacturers' production numbers this year. Tablet vendors have been conservative in their forecasts and companies like Samsung have been reducing their orders with the supply chain. After all, if you're going to produce fewer tablets, you don't need as many parts as you originally thought. Thus, the supply chain is also expecting orders to fall below the amount seen last year.

Last month, well-connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that he expects shipments of the Apple iPad to decline 30% this year. Apple introduced it's first phablet last year, the 5.5-inch Apple iPhone 6 Plus. It also raised the screen size of its flagship model, the Apple iPhone 6, to 4.7-inches from the 4-inch glass used on the Apple iPhone 5s and Apple iPhone 5c.

China's supply chain is considered to be more prepared to handle the decline in tablet shipments than its Taiwan based counterparts. The former has lowered its prices to attract manufacturers looking to cut back on costs. Based on one published report, tablet shipments will decline 11.8% this year to 221.4 million units. This same analysis shows tablet shipments continuing to decline until the bottom is hit in 2016.

source: DigiTimes