Worldwide tablet market continues to decline, says IDC

There is no improvement in the tablet shipments and the worldwide tablet market continues to decline. In the second quarter of 2015, it has seen a year-on-year decline of 7 percent with shipments totaling to 44.7 million, according to the latest report by IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. [caption id=“attachment_276540” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image: IDC[/caption] Compared to the first quarter of 2015, the tablet market has declined by 3.9 percent, owing to limited hardware innovation and vendor portfolio updates. Besides the decline, the quarter also marked a shift in the vendor landscape. While in the first quarter of 2015, **Apple and Samsung** accounted for 45 percent of the market, this quarter saw a combined drop of 41 percent from LG, Huawei and E FUN. “This trend is also something we see on a wider scale with the top 5 vendors accounting for 54% of the market, down from 58% last quarter. It is worth mentioning that Huawei enters the top 5 ranking for the first time, while E FUN has re-entered the top 10 after more than a year, further indicating that the vendor landscape is indeed evolving,” said Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC Research Director for Tablets. There has been a continued decline in shipments of the iPad line, but Apple still maintains its lead in the worldwide tablet market with 10.9 million units shipped in the second quarter. Samsung retained the second position with 7.6 million units shipped and 17 percent market share in 2Q15. Lenovo maintained its third position with 2.5 million units and 5.7% share of the market. LG and Huawei ended the quarter with a tie for fourth place. “Longer life cycles, increased competition from other categories such as larger smartphones, combined with the fact that end users can install the latest operating systems on their older tablets has stifled the initial enthusiasm for these devices in the consumer market,” said Jitesh Ubrani, Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. “But with newer form factors like 2-in-1s, and added productivity-enabling features like those highlighted in iOS9, vendors should be able to bring new vitality to a market that has lost its momentum.” In the past, there have been **consistent reports** about failing tablet market shipments. We’ve seen reports blaming sluggish device upgrades by consumers claimed to be responsible for the decline. Consumers are believed to be holding on to their old tablets with old configurations in the fast-paced consumer electronic market and even if the consumer buys a new tablet, the old one is passed on to another member in the family. The increasing demand for phablets is also said to be cannibalising tablet sales.