As per IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, the global tablet shipments registered an impressive growth of 19.5 percent in Q420 (year-over-year) totaling 52.2 million units
In the portable devices category, tablets have shown amazing level of resilience in Q4 2020 – a period with COVID-19 still keeping the world in its pernicious grips. Yes, in its recently announced Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, IDC has reported that in the fourth quarter (4Q20), the global tablet market registered an impressive growth of 19.5 percent (year-over-year) in terms of the overall shipments totaling 52.2 million units. This is notable that the impacted by the pandemic, the tablet market reached shipment levels not seen since the fourth quarter of 2017 when the total was 49.9 million. Interestingly, Apple once again showed a strong footing with 36.5 percent market share in Q4 20 – realizing a growth of 19.5 percent during 4Q20 as compared to the corresponding quarter last year.
The detachable tablets have broadened their presence in the market as the emphasis on productivity, flexibility, and ease of use is now greater than ever before and sales for this category were often in direct competition with notebooks. Shipments for detachable tablets grew 27.9 percent during the quarter as both Microsoft and Apple helped push the form factor with their respective products. Additionally, backlogs for PCs led some consumers to purchase these detachable tablets in place of notebooks. Meanwhile, slate tablets also grew 13.7 percent during the quarter as consumers sought ways to stay entertained.
“Huge demand in the consumer and education segments due to work from home and online learning has undoubtedly led to the resurgence in tablet demand”, said Anuroopa Nataraj, Research Analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker . “However, the category is not expected to retain this momentum in the long term as it still faces immense competition from notebooks and smartphones”, explained Nataraj.
Vendors in perspective
As per this IDC report, Apple once again led the tablet market with 36.5 percent market share and year-over-year growth of 19.5 percent during 4Q20. The new iPad 10.2″ and iPad Air 10.9″ tablets launched in the last two quarters helped drive sales during the holiday quarter. With the pandemic restrictions still in effect and remote learning still the primary mode of teaching, there were several big deployments of iPads in the education segment.
Samsung retained the second place with 19.4 percent share and exceptional year-over-year growth of 44.9 percent. The company shipped 10.1 million units in the quarter and 31.3 million units for 2020. It is still the largest provider of Android slate tablets with successful products such as the Galaxy Tab A and Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. Meanwhile, the vendor’s earnest efforts at making Android more productive and usable in a detachable form factor have helped the brand maintain a premium over other Android competitors.
Lenovo captured the third spot with global shipments of 5.6 million units and 120.6 percent year-over-year growth in 4Q20. Slates accounted for the majority of Lenovo’s tablet sales; however, their detachable portfolio has shown some momentum with the recently launched Chromebook Duet producing a gain of nearly 2.5 percentage points for detachable tablets. Western Europe and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) remain the largest markets for Lenovo’s tablet business.
Huawei rounded out the top 5 with 3.3 million units in 4Q20 for a year-over-year decline of 25.7 percent. U.S. sanctions continued to derail the company’s plans for success. However, the company’s strong presence in China remains a bright spot for the brand.
Qaisar
