Worldwide tablet markets have reportedly returned to growth for the third quarter of 2019 following its modest decline in Q2, however, predictions are already being made regarding a decline in the supply of small to mid-size panels, possibly indicating a drop for the fourth quarter.
A total of 37.6 million tablets shipped globally, resulting in a year-on-year increase of 1.9% according to the International Data Corporation.
Apple is still very much in the lead, growing by 21.8% over the year, with the introduction of a new iPad late in the quarter, with market share growing from 26.3% in 3Q18 to 31.4% in 3Q19.
With the inclusion of its smart connector on all iPads, except the Mini, Apple is now the largest player in the detachable space, making it a more significant threat to the traditional PC market.
Amazon.com took out silver climbing from fourth place in Q2, with shipments growing by 25.6% YoY.
Much like Apple, the introduction of a new tablet helped drive shipments with the Amazon brand continuing to establish itself as one of the most popular brands in the market.
Samsung fell from its second-place finish holding just 12.4% of the market share, shipping only 4.6 million units this quarter.
Huawei and Lenovo close out the top five, holding 9.5% and 6.7% market share respectively.
It comes as small to midsize panel shipments are expected to drop, according to Digitimes Research, who claim “Shipments of small- to medium-size panels for all applications will see a setback sequentially in the fourth quarter, with tablet panels to drop 8.1%, handset panels to plunge 18.4%, and those for other applications to slide more than 10%”.
