The worldwide tablet market has grown by almost a quarter in Q2 2020 as reported by Canalys. The industry grew by 26% from this period last year.
This remarkable growth is largely due to the coronavirus outbreak. With a dramatic rise in home working, people are looking for basic computing power and larger screens. The sector had faltered in recent years but this is a welcome trend for those in the industry.
Overall, the smartphone market is down from this time last year despite Huawei overtaking Samsung as the largest distributor. Therefore, overall growth is a really promising sign for the tablet sector.
Table sales increase by 26% in Q2 2020
A 26% increase in the tablet market in Q2 2020 is as seriously impressive statistic given most of the world is heading into an economic recession. All major tablet vendors saw double-digit growth from last year’s figures.
These sorts of sales levels are normally associated with the Q4 holiday season. This gives the figures some context into how impressive they are. Canalys Analyst Ishan Dutt pointed out that tablets were a perfect purchase given the current situation. Dutt said, “tablets enjoyed a renaissance in Q2 2020 because the devices tick so many boxes for remote work and education use.”
Apple continues to lead the way in tablet sales
Unsurprisingly, Apple continues to lead the tablet market from its competitors. The company saw a 20% increase in sales, resulting in 14 million units shipped. This is a second-quarter record for the company.
Samsung found themselves in second with 9 million units shipped but a massive 39% rise in sales. Huawei followed with an even larger 45% year on year growth. Amazon and Lenovo followed behind in fourth and fifth place respectively. Both companies also saw large increases in sales.
Dutt’s analysis of the increase pointed out that tablets generally tend to be budget-friendly. For example, the Amazon Fire HD 8 is currently retailing at $59. Dutt points out that this increase means we must include tablets when “evaluating the PC market as a whole.”
Ben Stanton, who is a senior analyst at Canalys noted that the carrier and channel ecosystem is a key context for understanding this growth. He points to back to school deals to entice buyers as well as offers from carriers offering free data.
Having a reliable connection has been key to supporting remote learning and working. Therefore, the tablet market has adapted to these needs and ensured that they can meet this demand.
It will be interesting to see how the tablet market continues to evolve over the coming months. Is this a short-term spike or will this become a longer-term trend towards tablet preference? Only time will tell but with much of the world set to work from home for the foreseeable future, the need for tablets is likely to stay for a while.