Tablets and Chromebooks shipments continue to drop in Q3 2023

Shipments saw a decline of 14.2 per cent and 20.8 per cent, respectively

Global tablet shipments saw a decline of 14.2 per cent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2023, totalling 33.2 million units, according to preliminary data from IDC.

Meanwhile, Chromebooks also contracted in Q3 with shipments totalling 3.5 million units and marking a year-over-year drop of 20.8 per cent.

IDC research suggests the Chromebook market may have some resilience due to a pending refresh in the education segment and available budgets within government spending.

Despite subdued demand, the market experienced an 18 per cent increase over the previous quarter due to seasonality.

In the tablet market, Apple emerged as the leader with shipments of 12.5 million units, but still experienced a 15.1 per cent fall year-over-year.

Unlike past years, Apple did not launch new models during the third quarter, which typically provides a boost in the second half of the year.

Nevertheless, Apple managed to maintain its market share from the previous year.

Samsung, with 6 million units shipped in the quarter, secured second place.

Although the company's shipments shrank, the tablet manufacturer appears to be focusing on a turnaround by concentrating on the premium segment along with additional marketing campaigns.

Lenovo and Huawei claimed the third and fourth position this quarter with shipments of 2.6 million and 2.3 million units, respectively.

After a dismal performance last quarter, Amazon successfully reposition itself in the top five by gearing up for the holiday season and launching a new value-priced premium device, the Fire Max 11.

"The first three quarters of 2023 recorded some of the largest contractions in the tablet market and the upcoming holiday season isn't expected to be very different. With no dramatic improvements in macroeconomic conditions, project and purchase delays are expected to be pushed further into 2024," said Anuroopa Nataraj, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers.

"Refresh in the education segment and growth in use cases across verticals might help the tablet market to stay afloat in the long run, but in the near future we don't expect any significant uptick in tablet sales."

Jitesh Ubrani, research manager with IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers added: "Tablets have unfortunately always found themselves in an awkward middle ground between PCs and smartphones, and this continues to put downward pressure on the market.

"However, the most successful tablet makers have realised that the tablet works best when paired with rather than against a PC or smartphone and as such we expect other tablet makers to follow suit by offering a more unified software and services experience though this will take some time to coalesce."

Tablets and Chromebooks are on a similar downward spiral as PC shipments, which also saw a 7.6 per cent year-over-year reduction in Q3 2023, as reported by IDC.