The tablet market continues to decline from its heyday period of, well, not a while back and has dropped more by 14.7 percent in Q1 of 2016 compared to the same quarter last year.
Most of the major companies registered a decline in their market share though hope is seen for upcoming, cheaper slate makers such Amazon and the omnipresent Huawei. Both saw sale increases of 5421.7 and 82.2 percent, respectively.
Apple saw market share decline slightly to just about a quarter now with 10.3 million shipments. Samsung was noticeably far behind with 6 million shipments and a 15.2 percent share. Amazon and Lenovo are essentially tied at 2.2 million while Huawei is slightly behind at 2.1 million.
Other companies, including white-box manufacturers, constitute for the largest share, 42.6 percent of the market. Overall, the industry saw 39.6 million in sales in the first quarter, down from 46.4 million of the first quarter of 2015.
IDC considers the price cut of the older iPad Air 2 and the introduction of the new 9.7” iPad Pro as two significant developments that will help Apple get a few more customers in the future. Samsung will continue to bolster its position as the last major “premium” Android slate-maker, while Amazon’s success comes in part due to its recognition.
Lenovo can do better if it fills in the gulf in price and performance points in this lineup while Huawei’s success can be attributed to its strong carrier relationships.
Perhaps the biggest thing not in favour of the tablet market is that consumers are simply not interested anymore. Instead of getting new buyers, the makers of these tablets should only expect repeat purchases mostly by buyers who are replacing their old devices, rather than targeting new buyers altogether. As the industry faces pressure from smartphones, it is unlikely that things will change in the near future.
