FRAMINGHAM, MA – The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic furthered the decline of the worldwide tablet market as global shipments fell to 24.6 million units, down 19.6% year-over-year during the first quarter, according to International Data Corp.

Detachables continued to grow and gain market share, with year-over-year growth of 56.8%, mainly driven by iOS devices, while slate tablets saw shipments decline 36.4% compared to the first quarter of 2019.

Apple continued to be the top vendor, although the large number of shipments throughout 2019 and the closure of factories in the first quarter led the company to produce fewer units than expected, leading to a decline of 30.4%. However, the company still leads in the detachable market, as every iPad, with the exception of the mini, now offers a detachable keyboard.

Samsung retained the number two position and recorded shipment growth of 3.9% year-over-year. Even with the ongoing global crisis, the company managed to ship five million units in the quarter, as many customers resorted to buying devices for e-learning and work from home. There was growth across both the detachable and slate portfolios. Samsung also launched the Galaxy Tab S6 5G, making the company the first vendor to introduce 5G in tablets. However, the model was not released across many geographies.

Huawei shipped three million units during the quarter for a year-over-year decline of 8.3%. The company managed to record growth across its detachable portfolio. However, the company's shipments are predominantly from their slate tablets. Hence, the growth in detachables did not compensate for their overall tablet shipment decline. Additionally, the company continues to struggle in markets outside China due to political backlash and the lack of Google services.

Lenovo moved up to the fourth position and was one of the two companies in the top five with positive growth. The company shipped 1.6 million units for year-over-year growth of 1.9%. This growth was mainly from Japan, the US, and Western Europe, while most of the other regions recorded a decline.

Amazon secured its place in the fifth position, with a year-over-year decline of 24.5%. The company also lost share from 6.2% in the first quarter to 5.8% in the most recent quarter. While Western Europe has been able to slightly increase their shipment share in the past few quarters, the US still accounted for more than three-fourth of the sales and continued to be the biggest driver.

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