Apple comes out tops in declining tablet market
Lack of innovative features and range of devices inhibiting market growth, according to IDC
Apple retained its leadership in the EMEA tablet market, taking a quarter of the total market share in Q2, according to IDC.
The analyst credited this success to the help of a buoyant quarter for detachables and the rebirth of the iPad mini.
Rival Samsung took second place, but saw a 13.4 per cent year-on-year decline, with third-place Huawei declining nearly 20 per cent, which the analyst attributed to falling consumer confidence due to its ban in the US.
The EMEA tablet market is predicted to decline by nearly 10 per cent overall in 2019, with the detachables and commercial segment expected to partially offset the decline in consumer tablets.
"The second half of 2019 will remain inhibited as slates continue to decline across regions," said Nikolin Jurisic, product manager at IDC CEMA.
"In comparison, detachables are expected to perform slightly better. The economic revival, stronger consumer and commercial confidence, and new and attractively priced products are expected to positively influence the market."
Overall, the tablet market in EMEA contracted 11.7 per cent in the quarter, shipping 9.6 million units.
This is due to an ongoing decrease in consumer demand for tablets, as well as a lack of innovative features and the availability of a wide variety of large-screen devices that are making tablets "less relevant", according to Jurisic.
The detachables segment, however, turned around two consecutive quarters of decline to show 12 per cent growth.
The expectation of a detachable rebound in the market was finally realised in Q2 and on a bigger scale than anticipated," said Daniel Goncalves, senior research analyst at IDC Western European personal computing devices.
"This was mainly driven by shipment pull-in of the freshly released iPad Air, a budget alternative to the iPad Pro and a contender to the Surface Go in the mid-range tablet market with keyboard capabilities that have the potential to become a back-to-school winner."