Tablet market continues to struggle and decline in Q2 2015

Major markets felt the impacts of weak currencies; mid-range to entry-level large-size smartphones continued to cannibalise tablets; and vendors saw high inventory, Digitimes says.

Figures from market analyst IDC suggest that the Apple slate’s market share has dipped below 25% in the face of heightened competition from budget devices.

The market intelligence company global Data Corporation, or IDC, came out with their Q2 tablet sales estimates and they show lower tablet sales worldwide. According to IDC, 44.7 million tablets were shipped from April through June of this year, compared with the 48 million that were shipped during the same three month period last year. The tablet has continuously lost market share since, dropping three per cent since 2014 and shipping 2.4 million less units. Quarter on quarter (QOQ), the worldwide tablet market went down -3.9%. Samsung followed with 7.6 million tablets shipped, representing 17 percent of all tablets, while Leonovo, Huawei and LG Electronics rounded out the top five sellers. While one or two bad quarters can be explained away by a variety of factors, the fact of the matter is that iPad sales have been declining for six straight quarters.

“In the first quarter of the year, Apple and Samsung accounted for 45 percent of the market, and this quarter, with the growth of vendors like LG and Huawei, their combined share dropped to 41 percent”.

Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC research director for tablets, said: “Beyond the decline, we’re seeing a profound shift in the vendor landscape as the top two vendors, Apple and Samsung, lose share in the overall market”. Huawei’s shipments rose 103.6 percent, while LG’s jumped 246.4 percent. Ubrani says 2-in-1 tablets and new software features like iOS 9’s multitasking should bring growth to the market.

The tablet share of top 5 vendors fell to 54 percent in Q2 from 58 percent in Q1.