The Covid-19 outbreak has been a blessing for the market in the tablets segment. The tablet PC market is expected to grow 5-10% in 2020 after declining for four straight years. The current growth compared with an 18% fall in 2019 is especially due to a surge in the adoption of e-learning across educational institutions and enterprises.
Tablet makers are looking to strike partnerships with schools, colleges, and EdTech firms. The segment has been under constant pressure from larger screen-size and feature-rich smartphones. Tablets have an advantage of a comfortable screen size which consumers would use for entertainment, gaming, reading, and learning.
In addition, there will be potentially increased market demand from those in healthcare and law enforcement in the near future. “Beyond the immediate pent-up demand, consumer and enterprise discretionary spending on PCs will potentially remain muted owing to COVID-19 impact,” said Prabhu Ram head-industry intelligence group, CMR.
According to market research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR), the pandemic has given the PC industry a boost and the demand for tablets is more enhanced, benefiting the likes of Lenovo (47% market share), Samsung (15%), Apple (11%) and iBall (11%). Samsung, this week launched the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite with WiFi and LTE variants priced to tap into the demand surge.
“The tablet market, over the years, has been diluted due to the affordable smartphone alternatives with better features. Whether the current demand for tablets will be able to arrest the annual decline in the category is difficult to say as of now,” said Jaipal Singh, associate research manager for client devices for IDC India.
According to the data by CMR, tablet shipments for the January-March period declined 24% on-quarter due to supply chain constraints from China. Since then, CMR has revised its outlook on the segment from negative to positive, predicting a 5%-10% growth this year. Global Tablet PC Market is expected to develop at a substantial CAGR in the coming years. The most significant factor driving the growth of this market is rising investments in market.
