The fourth quarter of 2016 marked the ninth consecutive quarter that tablet shipments declined. Based on preliminary data from IDC, vendors shipped 52.9 million which was a decline of 20.1% from the same quarter in 2015. Similarly, shipments of 174.8 million units for the full year 2016 were down 15.6% compared to 2015, marking the second straight year of declining shipments.
IDC believes the second half of 2017 will bring a wide range of new detachable devices from the notebook PC OEMs as well as those playing primarily in the smartphone market. Yet even detachable tablets struggled to maintain momentum in the fourth quarter, as flagship products from key players like Microsoft and Apple started to show signs of age.
Apple’s hold on the tablet market is yet to be challenged although shipments declined 18.8% in the quarter. Samsung remained the number two tablet vendor capturing 15.1% market share on 8 million shipments although shipments were down 11.4% from the same quarter in 2015. The Tab S2 and Tab A continue to be the strongest models for Samsung and its largest markets for tablets continue to be the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific (excluding Japan).
Amazon’s Fire tablet rose, earning the company third place in the quarter although annual sales declined overall. Lenovo managed to gain 2.1% over the same period in 2015.
