Tablet PC shipments in South Korea are expected to spike this year on a variety of product line-ups and growing use of mobile devices, a report showed on Thursday.

According to the data by market researcher IDC Korea, shipments of tablet PCs in the country are estimated to reach 1.87 million this year, up 49 percent from last year.

In 2012, the local tablet PC market contracted 10.1 percent on-year to 1.25 million as demand for smartphones dwarfed that for tablet PCs, the research firm said.

IDC Korea expected sales of tablets with screens under 10 inches to show solid growth as Samsung Electronics Co. is set to release a new Galaxy Note with an 8-inch screen this year.

Also, sales of tablets that only support Wi-Fi access will attract more buyers this year, accounting for 75.5 percent of total tablet PC sales, it said. (Yonhap News)