Japan- and Korea-based vendors have recently released more orders for 8- to 10-inch Windows tablets to ODMs in Taiwan, which is expected to boost Windows' share in the tablet market, according to sources with Taiwan's supply chain.

　　The fierce price competition in the 7-inch tablet market and the gradually saturated tablet demand are driving Japan- and Korea-based vendors to seek to rely more on product differentiation. In addition to strong demand from the enterprise market, 8- to 10-inch Windows tablets also enjoying good sales in Japan's consumer market, thanks to a popular Flash-based online game, the sources noted.

　　The online game has helped raise Windows devices' share of total tablet sales in Japan to 15% from 3% previously, the sources said.

　　Among the 195 million tablets sold worldwide in 2013, Android accounted for 121 million units, or 62% of the total volume; iOS 70.4 million units (around 36%); and Microsoft 4.03 million units (2%), according to Gartner's figures.