Apple, Samsung lead the market as tablet sales continue to decline – Times of India

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, the global tablet market saw a 19.1% decrease in shipments in 1Q23, with only 30.7 million units shipped. This is a much more significant decrease compared to the 3.3% decline reported by IDC in the previous quarter.
During the quarter, all major tablet vendors experienced a decline in sales due to reduced demand caused by employees returning to offices and consumers being cautious with their spending.
Apple and Samsung were the top performers, accounting for almost 58% of the tablet market. Huawei came in third, followed by Lenovo and Amazon. Amazon‘s tablet shipments had a significant drop of 62% compared to last year’s same period.
The drop in shipments could be attributed to seasonal factors, excess inventory, and weak demand, making it their worst-performing quarter since the start of the pandemic.
Apple maintained its top position in Q1 2023 by shipping 10.8 million units, which makes up 35.2% of the market share. Samsung came in second with 7.1 million tablets being shipped in the quarter, having a 23.1% market share.
Huawei secured the third position with a shipment of 2.0 million tablets, accounting for 6.6% of the market share. Lenovo and Amazon.com, followed by shipping 1.9 million and 1.4 million tablets, respectively. The remaining tablet vendors shipped 7.5 million units, which makes up 24.4% of the market share.
For the first quarter of 2023, the amount of shipments is similar to those of 1Q19 and 1Q18, indicating a decrease in shipment volume. The report notes that vendors are prioritising the clearance of their inventory before the release of new models, resulting in lower sell-in shipments during the first half of 2023.
Tablet shipments may have decreased, but there’s a bright spot – more companies are becoming interested in the market. Jitesh Ubrani, the Research Manager at IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, points out that new players like OnePlus and Google’s upcoming Pixel Tablet demonstrate this growing demand from vendors. Google’s return to the tablet market is especially significant.
There are indications of a global economic recovery, which may lead to increased shipments in the second half of 2023, with inflation easing.