TrendForce has a new report out, that spells doom and gloom for the tablet market. It’s all about the quarterly evolution of the slate market, which has been reported to have declined by 35% in Q1 2018. Still, there’s a glimmer of hope in the education market.
The info comes from the above mentioned firm and their figures show that only 31.29 million units were shipped in Q1. As far as the second quarter goes, the tablet shipments are expected to grow by 11.4% quarterly, courtesy of the education market first and foremost. The year on year shipments growth could become positive and the growth may be 1.5% in Q2 2018.
Tablets are no longer the focus of the market, but their low prices have helped a few vendors increased their market shares. Apple launched a new 9.7 inch tablet over the first quarter, priced at merely $299 for students and this boosted the whole education segment. Chrome OS devices have also been targeted towards the education segment and also helped with growth. By the way Chrome OS is also on tablets now, so that may also provide an increase.
Now to mention Microsoft tablets, which are expected to come in all shapes in sizes, now that there’s Qualcomm action with Windows 10 S. Chinese brands performed OK in Q1 2018 and Huawei gained market share. Over the first three months of the year, Apple claimed first place with 9.11 million iPad units shipped, reaching a market share of up to 29.1%, 1.2% points up from the same time from last year.
The iPad shipments are expected to grow by 12% quarterly in Q2 2018 driven by the release of the new iPads. Samsung is placed second, with 5.37 million units shipped. Huawei shipped 2.53 million units and Amazon shipped 2.45 million. Lenovo has been increasing a lot, with an aggressive expansion and recording 2 million shipments even in the off
season.
With the recent news that convertibles may just save the tablet market and now the education devices also regarded as saviours, we may actually see a turnaround in a quarter or two.
