According to the latest report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), global tablet shipments returned to pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2023, with a grand total of 30.7 million units. However, this is not a good sign.
The smartphone market is having a much tougher time than it was in 2018 or 2019, as worldwide demand for tablets saw a huge spike during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, but is now falling. What is noticeable is that there was a sharp decline of 19.1% for the market as a whole compared to the global score published at the end of the first three months of last year.
The 30.7 million unit count is comparable to Q1 2018 and Q1 2019 counts of 31.6 million and 30.1 million, respectively, while looking terribly modest when compared to Q1 2019 sales results. 2021 and first quarter of 2022 of the 39.9 million and 38 million unitsrespectively.
Under these circumstances, Huawei was down just 9.7% year-on-year, which allowed the Chinese tech giant to jump from fifth to third place, leaving Lenovo and Amazon behind. Interestingly, Amazon and Huawei swapped positions between Q1 2022 and Q1 2023, meaning that Lenovo has managed to retain its fourth place among the world’s largest tablet vendors, despite seeing its sales drop 37.1%.
In first and second places respectively, Apple and Samsung saw fairly similar year-over-year declines in the first quarter of 2023, which allowed both companies to improve their market shares at the expense of the likes of Lenovo and Amazon.
The next iPad and Galaxy Tab launches are unlikely to come until the end of the current quarter, so both companies may have to wait a while before improving their shipping numbers as well. The Pixel Tablet, due for release on June 20th, could also be an industry-boosting launch, but that is less likely.
The tablet market should show signs of recovery in the second half of the year, according to analysts at IDC, as the global economy continues to recover.
