Global shipments of tablets are expected to rise by 45.5% in Q2 2020, representing a year-on-year increase of 9.9%, driven by recovered supply chains in China and deferred educational tablet orders, according to Digitimes Research.
This would follow a tough quarter for the market, with tablet shipments in Q1 dropping by 33.6% to 24.7 million as the COVID-19 outbreak in China significantly impacted manufacturing. Over 75% of the tablets that were shipped in this quarter were models with displays spanning 10 inches or more.
Despite having a large number of its products manufactured in China, Apple was able to hold onto the top spot and ship the most tablets in Q1. However it did record a notable fall, with its net iPad sales falling by 10.3% year-on-year to $4.37 billion.
Apple was followed by Samsung Electronics, Huawei, Lenovo and then Microsoft, pushing Amazon out of the top-five tablet brands. However, Digitimes has forecast that in Q2 2020 Amazon will climb its way back up to fourth place, which will push Lenovo to fifth and Microsoft to sixth.
Apple iPad Pro
Digitimes is also expecting Apple to lead tablet growth in Q2, predicting the company’s tablet shipments to surge by 60%.
In Australia, however, tech market research firm Telsyte has forecast that the tablet market will decline in 2020, as Australians replace their tablets less frequently.
