Tablet shipment volumes are tumbling, with ABI Research, the leader in transformative technology innovation market intelligence, attributing the general decline over the past two years to two culprits.
Demand for branded tablets in advanced market economies is decreasing due to saturation, slow replacement cycles, greater influence of business purchases, and substitution. China and other Asian markets are also seeing decreased demand for white box tablets due to shifts to branded tablets, as well as reliance on smartphones and phablets. While the total tablet volume in 2015 was more than 207 million, ABI Research expects this to sink below 140 million global shipments in 2021.
“China is evolving, moving away from white box products to support local and global brand manufacturers,” says Jeff Orr, Research Director at ABI Research. “As this behavior continues across other markets in Southeast Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America, the potential for white box tablets to remain viable will all but go away.”
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Global Weighting of Total Tablet Shipments (%) |
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|
2015 |
2016 |
2021 |
|
|
Branded |
67.8% |
70.6% |
88.5% |
|
White Box |
32.2% |
29.4% |
11.5% |
These findings are part of ABI Research’s Tablets and Pervasive Computing Service, which includes research reports, market data, insights, and competitive assessments.
