According to IDC Q1 2015 sees a second consecutive Y-o-Y decline in global tablet shipments-- overall tablet and 2-in-1 device shipments fall by -5.9% Y-o-Y to 47.1 million.
"The market slowdown that we witnessed last quarter is continuing to impact the tablet segment, but we see some growth areas that are starting to materialize," the analyst says. "Cellular-enabled tablets are outgrowing the rest of the market, providing an additional revenue stream for OEMs and mobile operators. In addition to driving higher usage than wifi-only tablets, cellular-enabled tablets also help position the segment as true mobile solutions rather than stay-at-home devices."
Another market bright spot is 2-in-1/hybrid devices-- while making a small portion of the overall market, such devices drive "stunning" growth for vendors such as Asus, Acer and E-FUN. Even Microsoft also sees positive results for the high-end Surface Pro 3.
As such, IDC recommends OEMs should focus on the aforementioned growth areas, while the commercial segment remains an area to watch for, even as uptake remains relatively slow.
On the vendor side, Apple continues to lead despite 5 consecutive quarters of Y-o-Y decline. iPad shipments total 12.6m units to capture 26.8% of the market, even with a -22.9% Y-o-Y decline. IDC expects results to remain as such unless the company "significantly" refreshes its tablet output with either a larger-screen iPad or a tablet-dedicated iOS version.
Samsung follows with "significant" (-16.5% Y-o-Y) shipment declines, while 3rd placing Lenovo is one of the few companies to see growth (23% Y-o-Y) in a declining market thanks to popular low-cost offerings.
Asus captures 3.8% of the market as the new Transformer lineup leads to less-than-expected growth, and LG makes a strong return to tablets with 10% Q-o-Q growth in a market that has declined by -38% Q-o-Q.
