According to IDC, global tablet shipments are down by -0.6% Y-o-Y to 43.5 million units in Q4 2019, while full year 2019 shipments total 144m units, a -1.5% decline in comparison to the previous year.
The IDC numbers include traditional slate tablets and hybrid devices with detachable keyboards. They show Apple remains not only in the lead in Q4 2019, but also seeing 22.7% Y-o-Y growth thanks to the new iPad launch. In fact, the latest iPad accounts for nearly 65% of shipments for the quarter, and helped the company gain 36.5% share, compared to the 29.6% of the previous year. That said, as Apple moves more towards detachables, slate tablet shipments are at an all-time low with a -79.3% decline.
Samsung regains 2nd place in Q4 2019 despite a -7.4% Y-o-Y decline to 7m units. The S. Korean giant fails to offset slate tablet declines, even with growth from the detachable segment thanks to the Tab S series. Meanwhile 3rd placing Huawei ships 4m units, a -2.8% Y-o-Y decline. The company continues to face pressure from the US, meaning most Huawei sales for the quarter come from Asia/Pacific, in particular (obviously) China.
Slipping to 4th place is Amazon, with a Q4 2019 decline of -29% Y-o-Y. Black Friday sales of the Fire HD 10, Fire HD 8 and Fire 7 drive unit volumes, ranking the online retailer 2nd in terms of slate tablet shipments (following Samsung), and while the company is expanding to additional markets it has failed to offset declines in the US.
Rounding off the top 5 is Lenovo, the only other company to record shipment growth, specifically of 5.3% Y-o-Y. Such results come from strong low-cost tablet performance in Asia/Pacific and Europe.
