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Latest Report on Tablet Shipments Unveil Startling Find (2015-03-14)
Since its debut with the Apple iPad, tablet PCs have been a popular device simply because they offer a touch interface which never fails to capture the imagination of its users. While it was pretty obvious that the tablet would one day turn into a pervasive device, new reports suggest otherwise.
According to technology blog and renowned research firm IDC, only 76 million tablets were shipped during the last quarter of 2014. While that may sound like a whole lot, the truth is that the sales during that quarter mark a steady decline in the tablet market, 3.2 percent as compared to the previous year to be precise.
This also happens to be the first time that the research firm IDC has reported a decline in tablet sales since the device exploded onto the scene back in 2010. Even more surprising is the fact that tablet sales have declined during the holiday season as well, leading many to believe that the device has finally reached a wall.
According to Jitesh Ubrani, a senior research analyst at Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, the tablet market is disproportionate at present, which means that it mainly relies on only the big names such as Apple and Samsung to drive its overall sales. While companies such as Apple have expanded their lineup by keeping their older models around, and are also offering lowered prices as compared to other tablet manufacturers, it is still not enough to compete with smartphones and the likes of new arrivals such as the iPhone 6 and the Samsung S6.
That being said, Apple still has a lead when it comes to tablet sales by shipping 21.4 million tablets, which is more than a quarter of the overall market value of tablet devices. Coming in at second place was Samsung, which managed to ship around 11 million units during the same time period. Other tablet manufacturers such as Lenovo, Asus and Amazon managed to gain a market share of 4.8%, 4% and 2.3% respectively. One company which did stand out during this time was Lenovo. The company managed to scale its PC business successfully thanks to its new range of low cost tablets.
Other tablet brands such as Asus also did well its T100 series tablet. The device was well received during the holiday season of 2013. In fact, the T100 was the top performer this quarter even though it had to keep up with many other low cost tablet manufacturers. The Asus Transformer lineup had also been expanded with the launch of three new 2-in-1s which also happen to be available in the market.
According to a technology blog, while the tablet market didn’t have a stellar year according to the statistics, it is possible that the new operating system being introduced by Microsoft and the overall shift towards the use of a larger display screen, along with various other technological updates, one of which is the gesture interface, could see the revival in the tablet market.
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