Counterpoint made public today the tablet shipment results for Q1 2021, showing an impressive growth of 53%. That’s compared to the same time frame last year. Even 2020 was a great year for tablets, with their shipments increasing by 19% compared to 2019.
We also saw a maximum level of 5 years in shipments reached in Q4 2020. Moving on 2021, the first quarter of 2021 brought an increased demand for slates, by 53%. However, when compared to the last quarter of 2020, there was a 22% decline recorded in Q1 2021, explained by the seasonal sales. Apple remains market leader, with a 37% share, compared to 30% from a year before. Samsung is placed second, with a bump up from 16% to 20%. Lenovo is on the third spot, with 9% versus 5% a year before.
Huawei has dropped quite a bit from last year, but we expect them to recover on the heels of the newly unveiled MatePads. Apple, Samsung, Lenovo and Huawei make up two thirds of the global tablet market. Microsoft, Amazon and the rest are at less than 30%. 2020 saw many tablet players downsizing or closing the business, while Huawei lost share because of the US ban. The budget iPad models stood for 56% of the overall iPad shipments, while the iPad Air and iPad Pro came next with 19% and 18% shares.
The iPad 8 was the top seller and the iPad Air 4 was ranked second on the best seller list. The more powerful Apple M1 iPad Pro had positive reviews and the initial consumer response was highly positive. The problem is that supply chain issues caused the device to be sold less than expected. Market stabilization is expected in Q3 2021, when the M1 iPad Pro may come back.
