Oz Tablet Market Continues To Shrink As Android Squeezes Apple

The latest IDC figures for the Australian tablet market suggest that the category will continue to shrink going forward into 2017, with the market facing its fifth consecutive quarter of decline.

Along with slipping 17.4% from the previous year, the Australian tablet market also fell subject to a number of notable trends – with Android cementing its position as the dominant OS for Q32016.

Google’s OS now sits at 45.3% of the market, with iOS trailing behind at 39.3% and Windows sitting at 15.5%.

Despite Android’s growing popularity, Apple continued to hold its own as a brand – with the iPad Pro and iPad Air 2 accounting for 39.3% of market share. While these numbers see Apple remain narrowly ahead of Samsung (who sit at 30.4%), they are a notable drop from the previous quarter’s share of 53.1%.

Lenovo also experienced healthy growth, with the company’s tablets trailing Microsoft by inches in terms of market share at 11.2%.

The report does note the rise of detachables as a potential solution to this decline.

“The rise of detachables is expected to continue as they appeal to the commercial audience and aim to act as replacements for traditional PCs” said Bilal Javed, Market Analyst at IDC Australia.

The category experienced a notable growth of 124.2% year-on-year for the quarter.