Dive Brief:

• Gartner said only 17% of 19,000 consumers surveyed in the U.S. and five other countries plan to buy a tablet in the next year.
• Tablet sales have been dropping steadily for over a year now.
• Analysts say the drop is partly due to the popularity of larger smartphones.

Dive Insight:

Last week, analyst firm Canalys said tablet shipments globally fell 20% in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the same quarter last year.

In addition to larger smartphones, free operating system upgrades may also be to blame for why people aren’t purchasing new tablets.

"Most applications work pretty well with first- and second-generation tablet hardware and because the operating system can be upgraded for free, the user is not compelled to change the device," said Gartner analyst Meike Escherich.

Escherich said as phablets and two-in-one convertible PCs gain popularity, it's possible many tablet users will never upgrade.

Gartner's survey included 19,000 consumers in the U.S., UK, France, China, Brazil and India.