The tablet market is slowly, but surely, dying. IDC’s latest report noted a 8.5% decline since last year with shipments only reaching 36.2 million globally. This is the 10th straight quarter the market is seeing a decline, with previous 5 quarters all noting a double-digit drop.
So, IDC classifies 2 types of tablet – one is the iPad type with no option for keyboard and is a bit like a larger phone. The other type is closer to what is considered a laptop and comes with detachable keyboard, like the Surface. There is growth in 2-in-1 devices, but a steep decline for those with no options for keyboard.
Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers. “It appears for many reasons consumers became less eager to refresh these devices, or in some instances purchase them at all. We continue to believe the leading driver for this was the increased dependency on smartphones, along with rather minimal technology and form factor progression.”
Oddly enough, while other markets are having a roller coaster of ups and downs, the PC market was looking at their worse decline. Interestingly, the PC market is growing again, albeit slow and looking rather flat.
Looking by company, Apple is still leading the tables but they are also looking at shipment dropping. The release of the 9.7 inch version might have saved them a bit but it’s hard to say how long, considering most are opting for Windows based OS while Apple is stuck with a mobile OS.
Samsung is trailing second and we already see them moving their portfolio to a 2-in-1 design with Galaxy Book series introduced in MWC. Again, they are opting for a Windows based OS – looks like they are moving towards where the market is growing.
Huawei is the only clear winner in this round, looking at growth in this segment. Huawei also moved from Android based to Windows based OS and the growth seems to be clearly from their convertible devices.
Amazon continues to stay strong in this segment with Kindle Fire devices. With a strong drive for content and product sales through the Kindles, with ebooks, Amazon Prime videos, and other online content – well, it looks like they aren’t going anywhere.
On 5th is Lenovo and they have been quite strategically places with their Miix lineup of 2-in-1.
Linn Huang, research director, Devices & Displays at IDC said, “To date, detachable shipments have dwarfed those of convertibles, but growth of the former has slowed a bit.”
