Tablet market continues its slide – IDC

The worldwide tablet market continued to suffer in Q2 2016, with volumes shrinking 12.3 per cent year-on-year to 38.7 million units, as vendors refocused product lines and consumers held off on product buys.

While Android remained the dominant platform, accounting for 65 per cent of sales ahead of iOS (26 per cent) and Windows (the remainder), there are “early signs of change” as the Android list has contracted and vendors have begun to offer Windows-based products to hedge against this, research firm IDC said.

“The market has spoken as consumers and enterprises seek more productive form factors and operating systems — it’s the reason we’re seeing continued growth in detachables,” senior research analyst Jitesh Ubrani said.

But standard ‘slate’ tablets continued to make up more than three quarters of the market.

While Apple saw its shipments decline, its shrinkage was less than that of the market as a whole, cementing its first place. Sales of higher-priced products meant its revenue and average selling prices increased.

Samsung maintained number two spot with its “methodical coverage of price bands, features, and screen sizes”.

And in third place, Lenovo is strong in Asia Pacific, Europe and MEA, as it grew its share “on the backs of unique, sometimes esoteric designs”. But while products such as Yoga Tab 3 Pro and its built-in projector offer differentiation, the majority of volume comes from its lower-priced units.

While IDC’s figures show stellar growth for number 5-placed Amazon, the research firm noted that last year it did not include the company’s 6-inch tablets in its figures.