According to the NPD DisplaySearch's projections about the tablet and laptop shipments in the US during the 2012 fourth quarter, the expected number of tablet shipments will surpass the shipments of laptops.

Going by the estimates put forth by NPD DisplaySearch's Richard Shim, a total of nearly 21.5 million tablets will be shipped during the fourth quarter, with the figure being notably higher than the projected 14.6 million shipments of laptops and netbooks.

With the projected figures marking the first time ever that quarterly tablet shipments will beat laptop shipments, NPD DisplaySearch said that the tablet trend has witnessed a surge of late; thanks to fact that there is a wider-than-ever availability of affordable tablets, like Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire 7, which come with a $199 price-tag each.

Furthermore, along with the affordable costs of the tablets, there is also a much wider choice for the consumers in terms of the size of the tablet devices. While the 9.7-inch Apple iPad has been a market leader ever since it was introduced, a number of tablet manufacturers have now come up with tablets in 7 inch, 7.9 inch, 8.9 inch, 10.1 inch, and 10.6 inch screen sizes.

Finally, over and above the more affordable cost and the several screen-size options, consumers also have the advantage of selecting an operating system of their choice --- iOS, Android or Windows 8!