3Q2015 : shipment numbers show stagnant tablet market
The Chinese are on the rise in tablet market too. In third quarter of 2015, 48.7 million tablets were shipped across the globe. Though the number looks big, this is negative growth, by 12.6% YoY, indicating that the tablet market has indeed reached saturation point. The growth in 3Q2014 was 36% and this shows how rapid the slowdown is for tablet sales last quarter. One reason for this is the lack of ‘quality’ low cost tablets and that many still cannot find ‘use case’ to own a tablet, unlike smartphones which have become part of our lives. Phablets like Samsung Note series, ZenFone series did their part in negating the need for tablets.
Apple and Samsung managed to stick to the top two positions, with 20.3% (down from 22.1%) and 16.5% (down from 17.4%). Huawei on the other hand managed to sneak into the top 5 with 3.7% of share (up from 0.7%) and Lenovo is the only other brand in top 5 to register increase in shipment. Lenovo managed to ship 3.1 million units (which is the same as that in second quarter) and still grabbed 6.3% of share (up from 5.5%).
| Vendor | 3Q15 Unit Shipments | 3Q15 Market Share | 3Q14 Unit Shipments | 3Q14 Market Share | Year-Over-Year Growth |
| 1. Apple | 9.9 | 20.3% | 12.3 | 22.1% | -19.7% |
| 2. Samsung | 8.0 | 16.5% | 9.7 | 17.4% | -17.1% |
| 3. Lenovo | 3.1 | 6.3% | 3.1 | 5.5% | 0.9% |
| 4. ASUS | 1.9 | 4.0% | 3.4 | 6.1% | -43.4% |
| 5. Huawei | 1.8 | 3.7% | 0.7 | 1.3% | 147.9% |
| Others | 23.9 | 49.1% | 26.4 | 47.5% | -9.6% |
| Total | 48.7 | 100.0% | 55.7 | 100.0% | -12.6% |
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, October 29, 2015
“We continue to get feedback that tablet users are holding onto devices upwards of four years,” said Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers. “We believe the traditional slate tablet has a place in the personal computing world. However, as the smartphone installed base continues to grow and the devices get bigger and more capable, the need for smaller form factor slate tablets becomes less clear. With shipment volumes slowing over four consecutive quarters, the market appears to be in transition.”
“The first generation of detachable tablets failed to gain much traction, as they represented a series of compromises in terms of both operating system and hardware that few consumers or businesses were willing to accept,” said Tom Mainelli, Program Vice President, Devices & Displays at IDC. “The devices shipping now represent a clear evolution of both OS and hardware, and it’s our expectation that both home and pro users will begin to embrace the form factor in larger numbers going forward.”
