IDC: Tablets Continue to Slide

  • PDF

The tablet market remains on the slump, IDC reports-- global shipments (combining both regular and hybrid tablets) are down by -12.3% Y-o-Y in Q2 2016, reaching 38.7 million units.

The decline comes as vendors "begin to refocus" product lines while customers hold off purchases. Predictably, the vast majority (65%) of tablets sold is Android-powered, followed by iOS (26%), but Windows appears to be slowly taking further hold of the market as vendors hedge their bets against declining Android volumes with the Microsoft alternative. How come? It all boils down to productivity.

IDC Q2 2016 tablets

"The market has spoken as consumers and enterprises seek more productive form factors and operating systems-- it's the reason we're seeing continued growth in detachables," the analyst says. "At present, it's difficult for Android to compete with iOS or Windows detachable products. However, the next 12 to 18 months will be very interesting as Google launches the next version of Android with better multi-tasking support and as they begin to bring together their two operating systems."

However, one has to keep in mind that while regular tablets are on the decline, the form factor still holds 75% of the market, and as such sales of such devices should go on for quite some time yet.

As for the vendor rankings, Apple remains on top with Q2 2016 market share of 25.8% and shipments dropping by -9.2% Y-o-Y to 10m units. The company does see some success with the iPad Pro, as the larger device helped offset some declines while raising ASPs and revenues. Samsung retains 2nd place through a variety of devices covering a wide range of both screen sizes and price bands, followed by Lenovo and its unusual device designs.

4th-placing Huawei sees a "rocky" start to the Matebook detachable line, while Amazon caps the Top 5 with the increasingly popular low-cost Fire range.

Go IDC WW Quarterly Tablet Tracker Q2 2016