International Data Corporation Announces That Indian Tablet Market Slips In Q4

BENGALURU: As reported by the Economic Times, India’s tablet market declined by 18.7 percent, subsequently in the October to December quarter 2015 and slipped by 10.1 percent on-year, during the same period.

About 0.86 million units of tablets were shipped in 2015 Q4, but the total tablet market for 2015 managed to post a growth of 8.2 percent at 3.8 million units, on the back of 1 million units each in the second and third quarters, said International Data Corporation.

Furthermore, the research firm added that this increase helped the segment recover from a sharp dip in 2014.

Datawind led the quarter with 20.7 percent share, followed by Samsung at 15.8 percent, Micromax with 15.5 percent, Lenovo with 12.8 percent and iBall at 10 percent share of the market.

"Cost benefits through local manufacturing, free internet bundled tablets, higher online presence in Q4 2015 were few key factors which worked in favour of the vendor," analysts at IDC said explaining Datawind's lead. The 2016 year is expected to witness a marginal growth as consumer demand for tablets hits a saturation point. However, we expect commercial segment to witness healthy double digit growth this year, analysts added.

Although it was in comparison to smaller volumes in 2014, detachable (tablets that come with detachable keyboards) shipments spiked sharply. Moreover, the fourth quarter was also one of the first to that had detachables from all three major OS platforms - Android, iOS and Windows.

"Majority of detachables shipped in CY 2015 were in US$200-$300 price band, primarily driven by local vendors such as Micromax and iBall. On the premium end, Samsung currently dominates but competition is likely to get intense with Apple entering the market with iPad pro and Microsoft Surface Pro joining the league in 2016 Q1" says, Karthik J, Senior Market Analyst, IDC India.

As vendors strive to capitalize on the growth momentum by offering products at affordable prices, the detachable tablet category is anticipated to ramp further. However, the migration from slate to detachable tablets in India would only be gradual, IDC added.

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