In the second quarter, worldwide tablet shipments have shown an impressive growth of 22 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.
Global tablet shipments reached 34.4 million units with Apple, Samsung and Lenovo being the top three players, according to data from the US research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).
Its Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker found that Apple shipped 12.3 million units and grew by 18.2 per cent year-on-year in Q2 2024.
The launch of the new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air and iPad Pro models enabled it to grow its market share. While the 11-inch and 13-inch are backed by the M2 chip, its Pro model unveiled in May featured its latest M4 chip.
Apple’s market share in the second quarter stood at 35.8 per cent, compared to 37 per cent in the corresponding quarter in 2023.
IDC noted that iPad volumes grew across the globe except for China, where competition from local players like Huawei and Xiaomi negatively impacted the company.
Samsung meanwhile came in second with shipments of 6.9 million units in the second quarter, a 18.6 per cent year-over-year growth. Samsung held on to a 20.1 per cent market share despite there being no recent high-profile launches such as those from Apple.
Lenovo came in third with a year-over-year growth of 16.7 per cent and shipments of 2.5 million units.
IDC found that its detachable tablets recorded much higher annual growth (39.7 per cent) than its slate tablets (11.7 per cent), leading to an overall market share of 7.3 per cent.
Huawei maintained fourth position with a market share of 6.8 per cent, but recorded a 40.3 per cent year-on-year growth with 2.3 million units shipped. It introduced a new tablet, the MatePad 11.5S, and the June online promotions in China further aided its growth.
Xiaomi finished the second quarter in fifth position, just behind Huawei with a market share of 5.9 per cent. However, it showed the most impressive growth among the top five tablet players, recording a 94.7 per cent year-over-year increase in shipments to 2 million units. Beyond China and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), Xiaomi made significant gains in the European market with significant growth in Russia, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, among other countries.
“We expect the refresh cycle and growth in emerging markets to continue aiding the recovery in the near term. While new entrants to the market focus on their global expansion, long-term leaders continue to focus on improving technology (as in the case of OLED displays for iPad Pros), catering to the need for premium devices, and utilising the power of emerging technologies like AI,” said Anuroopa Nataraj, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers.
