WASHINGTON: The demise of the tablet seems inevitable, as shipments percentage dropped in double digits for the first time ever. Market intelligence provider TrendForce reported that in 2015 a total of 168.5 million units were shipped, representing a 12.2 percent drop year-over-year.
Notebook analyst for TrendForce, Anita Wang, confirmed what we all already knew — smartphones, phablets and two-in-one devices were interfering too much with the tablet market, and with the devices having a somewhat longer lifespan, the results are a decrease in new shipments.
“The saturation of the tablet market, the long life cycles of tablets themselves and the abundance of substitute devices were major factors that contributed to the large shipment decline”, said Anita Wang. “Tablets were challenged by many large and small devices during 2015, from smartphones sized 5-inches and above to two-in-one PCs. Their demand diminished as a result”.
Looking at the top players in the tablet industry, not much has changed — Apple is still the number one brand, with its iPad series. But those who fly high are the ones to hit the ground hardest, and Apple has felt it with a drop in shipments of 22 percent, from 63.4 million units in 2014 to 49.6 million in 2015.
Samsung’s tablet shipments fell 18 percent annually to 33.5 million units, and its market share fell by just 1.5 percent over the year to 19.9 percent. Even though it failed to make the top five, Microsoft is an honorable mention — its tablet shipments grew 50 percent annually, thanks to its Surface Pro 4 tablet.
