According to estimates made by IDC, this phenomenal growth trend is expected to last a while

Preliminary data from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that the global market for tablets witnessed a successful first quarter in 2021 with a growth rate of 55.2 per cent and shipments reaching up to 39.9 million units. 

Leading the segment is Apple, holding a share of 31.7 per cent, while Samsung and Lenovo followed with 20 per cent and 9.4 per cent each. 

According to estimates made by IDC, this phenomenal growth trend is expected to last a while. 

“While vaccine rollouts and businesses returning to offices may slow down the work-from-home trend, we are still far from returning to ‘normal’ working conditions and hence the demand for tablets, especially detachables, is expected to continue for a while,” said Anuroopa Nataraj, research analyst with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers.

As per IDC, growth of this magnitude has not been seen since the third quarter of 2013 when the tablet market grew by 56.9 per cent year over year.

Chromebooks continue to grow

Compared to 2.8 million shipments in the first quarter of 2020, Chromebook shipments grew to reach 13 million units in the first quarter this year.

“There’s no doubt that Chromebooks have supplanted tablets in many education markets. However, price and the dependence on cloud services have prevented them from becoming mainstays in all regions,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers.

“However, as buyers increasingly turn towards competing products, such as thin and light notebooks for work or entertainment and Chromebooks for education, the future of tablets will remain under constant competition, leaving the heavy lifting to larger brands such as Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and Microsoft,” said Anuroopa Nataraj.