IDC: W. European Tablet Market "Resilient"

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According to IDC the W. European tablet market sees a "slight" -1.7% Y-o-Y decline in Q1 2017, with shipments reaching 7.1 million units-- performance described as above expectations after many quarters of decline.

Driving the market is the recovery of Android-based consumer tablets, as well as the progress of the device form factor in enterprise. Also leaving a positive impact is detachable/hybrid tablets, with shipments growing by 5.8% Y-o-Y over and 16.6% Y-o-Y in the commercial segment.

IDC Tablets W. Europe

In fact, the commercial segment sees 5.4% Y-o-Y tablet shipment growth thanks to Android- and iOS-based devices with keyboards. Enterprises use such device to address the specific needs of users in various sectors. However Windows-based detachables slowed down in Q1 2017 due to growing focus on convertible notebooks by major OEMs, sluggish Windows 10 adoption in large and very large corporations, and the lack of a Surface Pro refresh.

"Despite the weak Q1 2017, the Windows detachable category will continue to progress going forward," IDC says. "This form factor is ideal for many usage scenarios and it perfectly fits the mobility needs of mobile professionals nowadays. It's just a matter of time until we see the number and pace of deployments accelerating."

That said, the main contributor to the W. European tablet market remains Android-based consumer devices-- Q1 2017 has the first Y-o-Y growth in Android tablets since Q3 2014 (4.8%), contributing to the larger-than-expected market volumes. Most prominent vendors currently operate in the €200+ price bands, since white brands and the Amazon Fire 7 dominate entry-level space.

Samsung leads the Q1 2017 W. European market, with 26.5% market share and Y-o-Y growth reaching 17.9% Y-o-Y. Apple follows, but IDC says it should see a stronger Q2 2017 once it reveals the next iPad iteration. Lenovo closes the top 3 after gaining share due to a stronger performance than the market.

Go IDC W. Europe Tablet Quarterly Tracker Q1 2017