According to Strategy Analytics, global tablet shipments are down by -7% Y-o-Y on Q1 2018, even as major vendors such as Apple and Amazon manage to increase shipments through lower hardware prices.
In fact, Q1 2018 iPad shipments show 2% Y-o-Y growth-- or -31% Q-o-Q decline, if due to comparison to a strong Q4 2017-- reaching 9.1m units, driving Apple tablet market share to 23.4%. Education remains a "good opportunity" for Apple, since schools often use both PCs and tablets for different use cases. As such it comes to no surprise the company is launching the basic iPad with Pencil refresh for Q2 2018, just in time for the school buying season.
Meanwhile Android tablet shipments are down by -10% Y-o-Y (or -31% Q-o-Q) to 24.2m units. Huawei, Amazon and Lenovo are the only Android vendors seeing growth, with Amazon selling hardware for cheap in order to support lucrative services revenue. Samsung appears satisfied with modest tablet shipments so long said tablets make a "healthy" profit, wheras Asus and Acer are pivoting away from Android towards Windows 2-in-1s and laptops.
Windows tablets show -9% Y-o-Y decline (or -22% Q-o-Q) in Q1 2018. Tablets running on the Microsoft OS are primarily aimed at the enterprise segment, and thus more profitable, but a crowded market leads to winners and losers. One such winner is Microsoft itself, who whose Surface devices lead to first double-digit Y-o-Y growth since Q3 2016.
“Leading vendors are bouncing back with new hardware and value-added features such as improved stylus capabilities, AR, and digital assistants to support new use cases and double down on their appeal consumer and enterprise markets," the analyst concludes. "Our interactions with computing devices are rapidly changing and companies like Apple, Amazon, and Huawei are staying ahead of the curve with targeted product improvements.”
Go Tablet Market Falls -7% in Q1 2018 while Top Vendors Play to Strengths