The worldwide tablet market continued to fall as vendors shipped 43 million units in the third quarter of 2016 (3Q16), a year-over-year decline of 14.7%, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.
In contrast to the annual decline, 3Q16 shipments were up 9.8% over the second quarter of 2016 as the larger vendors prepared for the holiday quarter. Apple continued to lead by shipping 9.3 million units in Q3 2016 and grabbed a market share of 21.5%. The research firm stated that although Apple pushed for iPad Pro sales, the iPad Air and Mini lines have accounted for more than two-thirds of its shipments this quarter. Although Apple’s tablet shipments declined 6.2% year over year, total iPad-related revenues were flat for the quarter, thanks to the iPad Pro offering.
Samsung took second spot by shipping 6.5% with a market share of 15.1% in Q3. IDC said the Note 7 fiasco did not have any impact to its tablet business. Amazon.com, Lenovo and Huawei reported a market share of 7.3%, 6.3% and 5.6% respectively.
Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers said,
Low-cost (sub-$200) detachables also reached an all-time high as vendors like RCA flooded the market. Unfortunately, many low-cost detachables also deliver a low-cost experience,”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.
Jean Philippe Bouchard, research director, Tablets at IDC said,
Beyond the different end-user experience delivered by low- and high-end tablets, we’re witnessing real tectonic movements in the market with slate companion devices sold at the low-end serving a broader platform strategy, like Amazon is doing with Alexa on its Fire Tablets, and more expensive productivity tools closer to true computing and legitimate notebook replacement devices that should manage to keep average prices up.