As the whole tablet segment is in crisis and can’t find a way to generate hype and profit, it’s up to niches to rise up to power. Productivity and detachables seem to be the key, as they’ve reached 12% of the whole slate space.
IDC estimations show that tablet shipments were down almost 14% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2015, but detachables managed to double their units, to 8.1 million. People seem to want genuine PC replacements and they’re ready to pay the high price for that. Microsoft and Apple are ruling the ascending niche, with 2 million iPad Pros and 1.6 million Surface tablets moved last quarter.
Still, there’s hope for smaller devices, like the Amazon Fire $50 tablet, that sold very well, as well as a variety of models from Huawei and Lenovo. It’s interesting to see that ASUS basically started the detachable frenzy about 4-5 years ago and they haven’t exactly managed to rule the space. Neither have Lenovo with their famous convertibles.
I guess the big brand really does matter when you buy something.
