Tablets hold steady in Western Europe

Third quarter shipments only dropped one per cent year on year, but the trend is shifting to detachable devices claims IDC

The number of detachable devices shipped in Western Europe smashed through the one million barrier, accounting for almost 14 per cent of the total market, IDC has claimed.

And commercial shipments are on a growth trajectory, while consumer shipments are on the slide, the analyst found.

Total tablet shipments to Western European countries in Q3 2015 hit 8.7 million units, a small drop of just one per cent compared with the same quarter last year.

This shows a clear sign of stabilisation on the previous quarter, but the shift is definitely towards detachable devices.

Marta Fiorentini, senior research analyst at IDC EMEA personal computing, said: “In the context of struggling sales of consumer slate tablets and in view of the fast-rising demand for devices with a detachable keyboard observed over the past few quarters, several industry players have adjusted their product portfolios to include the detachable form factor.

"The home segment in particular benefitted from this supply boost as most of the new products introduced this quarter targeted consumers to attract back to school demand but also in preparation for the holiday season."

Overall, the consumer segment declined by five per cent as demand for the slate form factor shrunk by 11 per cent year-on-year due to what IDC said was an ‘absence of compelling reasons’ to renew existing devices and a dwindling supply of first time buyers.

However commercial tablets grew a significant 24 per cent year on year across Western Europe, driven by expanding adoption across the corporate world and seasonal education deployments.

Detachables in this sector increased by a whopping 74 per cent year-on-year. In terms of vendors, leading the pack was Samsung and Apple, with Samsung seeing 0.5 per cent growth year-on-year due to the introduction of new models such as its Galazy Tab S2 and Galaxy tab E.

However Apple suffered from slower replacement sales, IDC said, while the average price paid for its devices increased. In third place was Lenovo, which is seeing success with its YOGA line, and Asus dropped to fourth place. Chinese vendor Huawei entered the top five according to ICD for the first time, as it continues to build its presence in the telco sector with connected devices.