FRAMINGHAM, MA – First quarter seasonality combined with an overall disinterested customer base led to an annual decline of 14.7% in worldwide tablet shipments during the first quarter of 2016, says International Data Corp. Worldwide shipments of tablets (including slate and detachable form factors) reached 39.6 million.
Slate tablets continued their decline, while still accounting for 87.6% of all shipments. More important, the slate tablet segment has become synonymous with the low-end of the market, says IDC. While this may bode well for vendors like Amazon that rely on hardware sales to increase their ecosystem size, it has not helped vendors who rely solely on greater margins for hardware sales. Meanwhile, detachables experienced triple-digit year-over-year growth on shipments of more than 4.9 million units, an all-time high in the first quarter of a calendar year.
"Microsoft arguably created the market for detachable tablets with the launch of their Surface line of products," said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers. "With the PC industry in decline, the detachable market stands to benefit as consumers and enterprises seek to replace their aging PCs with detachables. Apple's recent foray into this segment has garnered them an impressive lead in the short term, although continued long-term success may prove challenging, as a higher entry price point staves off consumers, and iOS has yet to prove its enterprise-readiness, leaving plenty of room for Microsoft and their hardware partners to reestablish themselves."
Likely due to eroding margins in regular slates, the first quarter also saw the introduction of detachable tablets from traditional "mobile first" vendors like Samsung and Huawei. The midrange pricing for these new devices will make them a difficult sell, as consumers seeking performance will likely go for a Surface-like device, and the budget conscious seek wallet-friendly options from vendors like EFun, RCA, or others.
"The introduction of detachables from traditional smartphone vendors is only beginning and poses a real threat to traditional PC manufacturers," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, research director, Tablets at IDC. "Their understanding of the mobile ecosystem and the volume achieved on their smartphone product lines will allow them to aggressively compete for this new computing segment. It is likely those smartphone vendors will utilize the detachable segment to create new mobile computing end-user experiences if customers are using their detachables in combination with their smartphones."
Apple's dominance in the overall market isn’t surprising, says IDC. iPad's future will be largely relegated to replacements of older iPads or PCs, rather than net new additions. The latest iPad Pro 9.7" and more enterprise friendly storage options for the slightly older iPad Pro 12.9" are healthy additions to the iPad lineup. The recent price drop on the iPad Air 2 should help sway those who were previously undecided to upgrade their older iPad 2s.
Samsung's Galaxy Tab lineup continues to do well and is one of the last remaining "premium" Android tablets. The launch of the detachable TabPro S has been somewhat tepid due to the high price point, though this is likely a short-term hiccup, as Samsung is typically quick to offer various products and different price points.
Amazon's low-cost Fire tablet is certainly not the first of its kind, but its success speaks to Amazon's prowess as a household brand and a distribution powerhouse. Though the year-over-year growth is an astronomical 5421.7%, it is important to note Amazon's first quarter 2015 lineup featured a 6" tablet that was not counted by IDC, as it did not meet the requirements of the firm’s taxonomy.
Lenovo continues to suffer from slowing demand for Android slate tablets. While Lenovo has introduced some detachables and increased its Windows 10 portfolio, there are still gaps in its lineup in terms of performance and price points. IDC believes those gaps will soon be filled, allowing Lenovo to benefit from detachable growth.
Huawei rounds out the top 5 with a vast majority of its shipments falling in the slate tablet category. Huawei's introduction in February of its first detachable, the MateBook, will help it build momentum in the next quarter of 2016. The impressive growth recorded by Huawei is a clear indication of its resource allocation and optimization of its carrier relationships as a channel for its portfolio.
