Apple's annual iPad sales might be down for the first time since the launch of the tablet in 2011, according to market intelligence group ABI Research.

ABI is projecting 68 million iPad and iPad Mini sales in 2014, 6 million less than the previous year. Apple would need to sell 32 million iPads in Q4 to be able to surpass its 2013 sales, which looks unlikely given the current tablet climate.

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The recent launch of the iPad Mini 3 and iPad Air 2 has not done much to propel sales. Apple didn't bring a lot to the new tablets, Touch ID being the main feature on both new tablets.

Android has also seen growth in the tablet market, hitting 51 percent tablet market share, while iOS drops to 41 percent and Windows 8 holds a meagre 5 percent share.

Amazon, Google and Barnes & Noble will also post a loss in 2014 on overall tablet sales, although Samsung should report a 5 million increase to 43 million total sales in 2014. Dell, Lenovo, HP, ASUS, LG and Microsoft should all post growth in the tablet market this year.

The tablet market is starting to slow, as more customers hold onto older tablets for longer than expected. The usual two year refresh in the phone market does not appear to be present in the tablet market, leading to slow growth in 2014 for Apple.

Phablets are also starting to eat into tablet sales, something Apple is helping along with the iPhone 6 Plus. There are more outlandish examples of phablets, which could past off as tablets, especially in South-East Asia.

Apple shouldn't be too worried about the loss of sales, considering usage of the iPad is still incredibly high globally. Apple is also still able to boast about web traffic, much higher than Android tablet traffic.

Tagsipad mini, Ipad, tablet sales