While the Indian tablet market shipped 3.2 million units in 2017 – a 11 per cent decline from 3.6 million units shipped in 2016, Lenovo with 26.1 per cent market share leads the segment, market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has said.
According to IDC’s “Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker” report, 717 thousand tablets were shipped in India with a 32 per cent sequential decline in the fourth quarter of 2017; and registered similar shipments when compared to the same time a year ago.
Also, after a big spike in the third quarter of 2017 and completion of the Gujarat State government tablets deal, the commercial segment declined by 35 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2017. However, it saw a strong 75 per cent growth compared to the same quarter last year.
In the product category, slate continues to dominate the Indian market with 96 per cent of the tablet shipments, while the share of the detachable remains limited to four percent in 2017. Most of the screen sizes have grown when compared to 2016. In contrast, the 7-inch segment saw a 22 per cent annual decline, though it has remained a dominating segment in 2017.
"The 7-inch slate segment is facing strong pressure from the popularity of phablets, and vendors have started focusing more on larger screens now. The comfort of a large screen for media consumption is attracting users to migrate to 10-inch tablets. It also works better for users who read and edit documents on the go,” said Ashweej Aithal, Market Analyst, IDC India.
Lenovo continues to lead the Indian tablet market with 26.1 per cent market share as its shipment grew 34.2 percent year-over-year (YoY). However, the vendor saw a decline of 31.7 per cent from the previous quarter. Lenovo's strong focus in the commercial segment has helped it to remain in the leadership position for three consecutive quarters.
iBall stood second, replacing Samsung for the first time as its shipment grew by 15.2 per cent year-over-year (YoY). Also, it became a leader in the consumer segment as it was quick to gain the share from the vendors who have shifted their focus to commercial segment.
Samsung slipped to the third place, as its shipments declined by 17 per cent year-over-year (YoY) and 22.1 per cent from the previous quarter. Samsung's Galaxy J Max remains their bestselling model followed by their newly launched Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2017).
Apple stood fourth with a healthy 30.5 per cent annual and 9.1 per cent sequential growth in the fourth quarter of 2017. The strong demand for Apple's 2017 launches "iPad" and "iPad Pro", coupled with the attractive cashback offers, has helped the brand to quickly gain a share in the market.
Datawind maintained its position in the top five companies despite the decline in shipments to almost half when compared to its volume with the same time a year ago.
"The government buying will continue to drive the momentum in tablet category in 2018. The continued focus of Government of India on Digital India will invite more government departments to participate in digitalising their processes which will further spur growth in this category. Also, BFSI, pharmaceuticals, automobile, and hospitality sectors will continue to buy more tablets as they progress on standardising their point of sales (POS) and know your customers (KYC) operations,” added Jaipal Singh, Senior Market Analyst, IDC India.
