Enterprises will push tablet sales more than consumer interest: Analysts

While the global markets continue to plummet globally, the India market seems to offer some hope. According to a recently released report , it was found that Indian tablet market grew marginally by 1.3 percent to 0.86 million units in the first quarter of 2016, from the year-ago period. The report notes a declining consumer interest in the slate tablet form factor and rapid growth of large screen smartphones - phablets. Tech2 speaks to Vishal Tripathi, Research Director at global advisory firm Gartner as we try to demystify some trends in the tablet market. Tripathi sees the market majorly going flat over the months to come. “Tablet as a category has matured,” he says. “People who wanted to buy a tablet already have bought one. There would rarely be any repeat buyers in this category,” reasons Tripathi. Senior Analyst at Counterpoint Research - Tarun Pathak shares a similar sentiment with Tech 2. “The lukewarm response from the consumer segment is due to the cannibalisation of the category by phablets and muted response from end consumer to add another device in their portfolio which needs constant charging,” says Pathak. However, the enterprise sector does see some potential still. “With increase in enterprise mobility initiatives by organisations, the consumption of tablets will increase there. Today most organisations are putting out enterprise apps, equipping their sales and on-field workforce with tablets,” reasons Tripathi. Explaining this further, Pathak adds, “The enterprise segment, with verticals like education , BFSI, retail is driving the growth. Going forward we expect tablet as category will be inclined more toward bigger screen size and connectivity and ultimately converge into 2-in -1 segment. Companies like Datawind are doing well in India in the enterprise segment, especially education. Affordability and leaner distribution structures are also factors for its steady growth.” We ask Tripathi who are the players to watch out for in the Indian market. He says while the big guys like Samsung and Lenovo are doing well here, iBall and Micromax also might make their mark in the Indian tablet scene. While we talk of tablet market trends, we can’t really ignore  detachables - which are being touted as PC replacements. Tripathi does not see detachables take over the slate market in the immediate future. “Having said that, detachables do have potential and we will see some bigger numbers in that segment if makers of these devices can control the price, for the cost conscious market that India is,” signs off Tripathi.