BEIJING: Sales of Chinese-brand tablet computers, such as Lenovo and Huawei, rose in the third quarter while those of global tablet names fell 13 percent in the same period, a US-based research firm said yesterday.
Lenovo posted a 0.9 percent gain in sales year on year in the quarter while Huawei’s jumped 148 percent.
The domestic tablet demand is still growing, especially for reasonably priced Android models, according to analysts.
The global tablet market saw sales drop 12.7 percent to 48.7 million units in the third quarter, IDC said in a report.
Sales of Apple, Samsung and ASUS declined in the period and they faced steadily eroding market shares, IDC added.
Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, ASUS and Huawei were the top-five vendors.
The market’s slowing is due to the comparatively longer update cycle for tablets compared with smartphones, analysts said.
As smartphones get bigger screens and are packed with advanced features, the need for tablets is set to decrease, said IDC analyst Ryan Reith, who called the market “in transition.”
Some smartphones featuring screens of over 6 inches boast similar functions of the 8-inch tablets like iPad Mini.
Apple’s iPad again led the global tablet market with a 20.3 percent share.
