Worldwide tablet shipments rose 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, reaching 45.7 million units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. The report also showed that shipments for the full year dropped 3.3% compared to 2021, the first decline in two years.
It was a different story in the Chromebook market.
Chromebook shipments contracted both in the fourth quarter (down 24.3%) and the year (48%), the report said. Some of the year’s decline may be attributable to a “pull forward” spike of 180.5% in 2021. With so many shipments (and sales) that year, demand was likely to fall off.
Research firm Strategy Analytics had earlier suggested a fall-off in the tablet market.
Apple and Samsung continued to be the leaders in the tablet market, according to IDC. Apple launched the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros and a 10.9-ich iPad in the fourth quarter, helping the company increase its market dominance, growing from 38.3% of the market in the fourth quarter of 2021 to nearly half (49.2%) of the market in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Samsung was a distant second. The company benefitted from continued efforts in effective resource management, especially to fulfill several projects in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China) and Western Europe, researchers said. The vendor has also been focusing on its premium tablet lineup to help build shipment volume. Samsung’s market share grew from 15.8% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 16.8% in the fourth quarter of 2022.
“We are currently amidst changing market dynamics. While affordability and simplicity of use will continue to be some of the key drivers for the market to sustain, consumers have also begun to evaluate the importance of higher-spec devices when making purchase decisions,” Anuroopa Nataraj, senior research analyst with IDC’s mobility and consumer device trackers, said in a prepared statement about the IDC tablet shipments research.
“As a result, vendors will need to focus on evolving their tablet portfolio. In addition, 2022 saw some new players like Xiaomi and OPPO enter the market offering consumers a complete solution that is connected across devices, enriching the user experience. In this changing environment, it will be necessary for vendors to rethink their product portfolios to cater to consumers, education, and corporate in an effort to drive demand.”
