The explosive growth of the tablet industry over the past two years has directly led to a decline in traditional PC sales. The low cost of modern tablets has made is so that low-priced notebooks are one of the only PC segments showing growth in recent quarters. Now that price competition appears to be getting even worse for the PC industry.

A new DigiTimes report today predicts that prices for low-end tablets will become even more competitive during 2014. According to the report’s unnamed “industry sources,” profit margins on 7-inch tablets are likely to be cut razor-thin by brand names such as Samsung, Amazon, HP, and Lenovo.

Much of this price competition will take place in emerging markets, where the majority of tablet industry growth is expected in the coming years. As brand-name tablet prices drop, DigiTimes’ sources believe that Chinese white-box brands may become less of a major factor for the tablet industry.

To combat this, white-box brands are preparing tablets that are priced below the $100 mark. In addition, DigiTimes’ sources believe some notebook manufacturers are also preparing sub-$160 tablets that could make an appearance during the second half of the coming year.

As the report mentions, many brands are already offering suitable tablets at around $100 or a bit more. DigiTimes’ reports that Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab 3 Lite tablets could sell for as little as $129.

Image via Samsung