According to the latest data out of IDC, the tablet market has declined for the eleventh quarter in a row.
IDC say that “despite notable product launches like the new lower priced iPad and products from other top-tier vendors, worldwide shipments for tablets declined 3.4% year over year in 2Q17, reaching 37.9 million.”
“However, with new product launches towards the end of the second quarter, the detachable market is expected to maintain a stronger position in the second half of the year.”
IDC found that only three of the top five vendors managed to increase their shipment volume during the quarter.
Apple took away the lions share of this growth, with the two new iPad’s lower price triggering existing customers to upgrade their aging devices.
In comparison, they say Samsung “was able to gain share simply by sustaining flat growth in this declining market.”
Chinese player Huawei saw gains at the expense of Lenovo. IDC say that the company’s “investment in brand marketing in Europe and Asia has continued to work well as the company finds itself among the top 5 for tablets as well as smartphones.”
“However, the company has been fairly cautious of the detachable market and recent products have had very limited launches.”
According to Linn Huang, research director for Devices & Displays at IDC, “the tablet market has essentially become a race to see if the burgeoning detachables category can grow fast enough to offset the long-term erosion of the slate market,”
“From that lens, the second quarter was a slight righting of the ship and there is still much to be hopeful about in the back half of 2017. New product launches from Microsoft and Apple are generally accompanied by subsequent quarters of inflated shipments, the reintroduction of Windows to the ARM platform could help remedy the aforementioned hollowing of the middle of the market, and we expect a proliferation of Chrome OS-based detachables in time for the holidays.”
