Will the tablet market ever stop declining? According to IDC figures, sales of slates and detachables – tablets with keyboards included – have fallen for the eighth quarter in a row.
Compared to the same period last year, total tablet shipments are down 14.7 percent to 43 million units. Q3 2015 saw 50.5 million devices shipped worldwide - 10 percent lower than 2014.
Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the sector, holding 21.5 percent and 15.1 percent market shares, respectively. The iPhone maker’s share went up this quarter by 1.9 points, while Samsung’s declined 0.9 points.
Apple’s iPad Mini and iPad Air made up two-thirds of the company’s total tablet shipments, while the expensive iPad Pro helped keep revenues stable.
Both Samsung and Apple experienced YoY declines; Apple dropped 6.2 percent, while Samsung fell 19.3 percent. Only two names on the list saw yearly growth: Huawei, in fifth position, was up by 28.4 percent from last year, and Amazon - stealing Lenovo's third spot - saw its YoY numbers increase by 319.9 percent.
| Vendor | 3Q16 Unit Shipments | 3Q16 Market Share | 3Q15 Unit Shipments | 3Q15 Market Share | Year-Over-Year Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Apple | 9.3 | 21.5% | 9.9 | 19.6% | -6.2% |
| 2. Samsung | 6.5 | 15.1% | 8.1 | 16.0% | -19.3% |
| 3. Amazon.com | 3.1 | 7.3% | 0.8 | 1.5% | 319.9% |
| 4. Lenovo | 2.7 | 6.3% | 3.1 | 6.0% | -10.8% |
| 5. Huawei | 2.4 | 5.6% | 1.9 | 3.7% | 28.4% |
| Others | 19.0 | 44.2% | 26.9 | 53.2% | -29.2% |
| Total | 43.0 | 100.0% | 50.5 | 100.0% | -14.7% |
Part of the reason why the online retailer’s growth figure is so high is because the IDC didn’t include the 6-inch Fire tablets in Q3 2015. The low-cost device sold well during July’s Prime Day sale, when they were discounted by 30 percent, and the recently refreshed Fire HD 8 will continue to boost Amazon’s numbers.
Lenovo drops one place from Q2 2016 to fourth spot. Its YoY numbers fell 10.8 percent to 2.7 million units shipped, but its share grew 0.3 points to 6.3 percent.
The majority of the tablet market continues to be made up of low-cost (sub-$200) devices. "Unfortunately, many low-cost detachables also deliver a low-cost experience," said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers. "The race to the bottom is something we have already experienced with slates and it may prove detrimental to the market in the long run as detachables could easily be seen as disposable devices rather than potential PC replacements."
