Telsyte’s Tablet Computer Market Study has forecast that Australia’s tablet computer market will continue to decline in 2020, on the back of a slow 2019.
While sales in the second half of 2019 fell by 3% year-on-year to 1.57 million, Telsyte has predicted that the tablet market could drop by a further 13% in the first half of this year.
Like most electronics products, Telsyte expects tablets will be “impacted by the coronavirus, which is affecting the entire supply chain”.
Even though sales have declined, tablet usage has grown steadily, Australians are just replacing their tablets less frequently. There are now around 15.8 million tablet users in Australia, of which some 7 million are daily users.
In the year ahead, it is likely that more 2-in-1 tablet devices (which have detachable or foldable keyboards) will join the market, rather than standalone slate tablets.
The study found that foldable screens are emerging as a popular feature. In Telsyte’s consumer survey, 29% of respondents that intended to purchase a tablet in 2020 said they might be interested in using a foldable screen tablet like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold. Indeed, just last week TCL unveiled the concept for its tri-fold tablet.
The average cost of a tablet is now $800, roughly 8% less than it was a year ago.
The market was led by Apple (48.4%), Windows (31.7%), Android (18.1%).
Meanwhile, the top-three vendors – Apple, Samsung and Microsoft – accounted for 75% of the market.
Apple’s 10.2-inch model was the most popular product sold in the second half of 2019.
