Tablet market shrinks 9% during Q4

The global tablet market fell 9% during the fourth quarter, with shipments from market leaders Apple and Samsung down by double digits, according to Strategy Analytics.

The research firm estimates that around 63.5 million tablets shipped during the quarter, down 69.6% from a year earlier.

Apple’s iPad shipments sank 19% to 13.1 million, with the vendor’s market share declining from 23.2% to 20.6%. Strategy Analytics attributed the sluggish performance to the lack of a new iPad Pro model or any price cuts during the quarter.

Samsung’s tablet shipments meanwhile fell 10% to 8.1 million, but its market share dipped a mere 0.1 percentage point to 12.8%.

Third-placed Amazon increased its market share from 5% to 6.7%, with shipments growing 21% to 4.2 million.

“Amazon has broken out of its unique seasonal patterns with the majority of its tablet sales occurring in Q4 to a more balanced approach all throughout the year, which speaks to the success of its low-cost, feature-rich Fire 7,” commented Peter King, director of Strategy Analytics’ tablet and touchscreen strategies service.

“While Amazon’s play is to bring more users into its ecosystem for incremental revenue, we believe other technology companies can mimic this success as the tablet still holds strong entertainment value.”

Lenovo was next with a 16% increase in shipments to 3.7 million, representing a total market share of 5.8%. Fifth-ranked Huawei was the strongest performer of the major vendors during the quarter with a 49% year-on-year increase in shipments to 3.4 million. The company’s market share increased to 5.4% from 3.3%.