By 2014 Apple’s iPad business will be worth over US$17 billion, according to a new study by Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com).

By way of comparison, the worldwide smartphone market will be worth $ 65 billion by 2014 while the portable market will be worth $195 billion, according to the research group. Worldwide shipments of dedicated eReaders — products like Sony’s eReader and the Amazon Kindle — will reach 7.2 million units in 2014, down from a high of 10.4 million units in 2012.

Meanwhile, worldwide shipments of media tablets will soar from 7.1 million units in 2010 to over 64 million units in 2014, according to Research and Markets.