Amazon overtook Samsung to become the world’s second-largest tablet vendor during the fourth quarter, albeit in a market in which overall shipments fell year-on-year.

Figures from IDC showed Apple maintained its dominance of the tablet market during Q4 2017, shifting 13.2 million units. However, Amazon increased shipments 50 per cent year-on-year to 7.7 million units after offering steep holiday discounts, displacing Samsung which experienced a decline in shipments from 8 million units in Q4 2016 to 7 million in the recent quarter.

Huawei and Lenovo rounded out the top five with shipments of 3.5 million and 3.1 million units respectively.

IDC noted overall tablet shipments dropped nearly 8 per cent year-on-year to 49.6 million units from 53.8 million in Q4 2016. The research company said slate devices accounted for 43.1 million of total tablet shipments, but noted consumer demand for these models “slowed significantly” in the last few years.

In contrast, shipments of two-in-one “detachable” tablets grew 10.3 per cent year-on-year to 6.5 million units in the recent quarter. IDC senior research analyst Lauren Guenveur said the outlook for continued growth in detachable shipments is bright thanks to an upcoming model refresh cycle.

“With the first wave of Windows on ARM products expected to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2018, we believe the detachables category has the potential to continue its growth trajectory. Many of these products are being introduced at the premium end of the market. What remains glaringly sparse, and needed, are strong players in the mid-segment of the market.”

Smartphone slump
IDC also noted smartphone shipments slid 6.3 per cent year-on-year to 403.5 million units in Q4.

Apple led the way on shipments of 77.3 million units, down 1.3 per cent year-on-year, followed by Samsung on 74.1 million (down 4.4 per cent). Indeed, of the top five vendors during the quarter (Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo in that order) only Xiaomi made gains after nearly doubling its shipments from 14.3 million in Q4 2016 to 28.1 million in Q4 2017.

IDC research manager Anthony Scarsella speculated record high prices could have contributed to the shipment slump: “Even though we have seen new full-screen displays, advanced biometrics, and improved artificial intelligence, the new and higher price points could be outweighing the benefits of having the latest and greatest device in hand.”

The research company’s figures square with data from Strategy Analytics, which last week said smartphone shipments during Q4 2017 fell 9 per cent year-on-year to around 400 million units.