The worldwide tablet market declined 7 per cent year-on-year in the 2015 second quarter, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC), with both Apple and Samsung losing market share.The IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker preliminary data has revealed shipments totalled 44.7 million units for the quarter, which also represented a decline of 3.9 per cent compared to the 2015 first quarter.
Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC research director for tablets, observed that there is “a profound shift in the vendor landscape”, with other vendors taking market share from Apple and Samsung.
“In the first quarter of the year, Apple and Samsung accounted for 45 per cent of the market and this quarter, with the growth of vendors like LG, Huawei and E FUN, their combined share dropped to 41 per cent,” Bouchard commented.
“Each of the growing vendors managed to address available pockets of growth in the market – connected tablets for LG and Huawei, larger tablets and 2-in-1s in the right price bands for E FUN.
“This trend is also something we see on a wider scale with the top five vendors accounting for 54 per cent of the market, down from 58 per cent last quarter. It is worth mentioning that Huawei enters the top five ranking for the first time, while E FUN has re-entered the top 10 after more than a year, further indicating that the vendor landscape is indeed evolving.”
Apple maintained its number one spot, shipping 10.9 million units, while seeing its market share decline from 27.7 per cent to 24.5 per cent year-on-year, with Samsung in number two shipping 7.6 million units and capturing a 17 per cent market share, down from 18 per cent.
Rounding out the top five were Lenovo, maintaining its third position, with 2.5 million units shipped, claiming a 5.7 per cent share of the market, up from 4.9 per cent year-on-year, with Huawei and LG Electronics statistically tied for fourth place, each shipping 1.6 million units, with Huawei capturing a 3.7 per cent market share, up from 1.7 per cent, and LG a 3.6 per cent share, up from 1 per cent.
The IDC noted share outside the top five continued to outgrow the market, representing 46 per cent of total tablet shipments for the quarter.
“Longer life cycles, increased competition from other categories, such as larger smartphones, combined with the fact that end users can install the latest operating systems on their older tablets has stifled the initial enthusiasm for these devices in the consumer market,” Jitesh Ubrani, Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers senior research analyst, commented.
“But with newer form factors like 2-in-1s, and added productivity enabling features like those highlighted in iOS 9, vendors should be able to bring new vitality to a market that has lost its momentum.”
