As reported by PhoneArena (via Canalys) Tablet sales growth will continue into 2021. The pandemic this year decimated the world economies. Millions of people lost jobs worldwide. Certain markets saw growth as a result of many people working and learning from home.
For example, the tablet market grew as companies continued to supply people with a means of working and learning. School-aged kids were a big help to the growth of tablets worldwide. With so many people staying home, many households went from owning one computer or tablet to owning multiple ones.
Canalys reports (via Reuters) that the trend will continue into 2021 as additional purchases accumulate. The total number of computers and tablets will increase from 1.64 billion units at the end of 2019 to 1.77 billion by the end of 2021. Unfortunately, the demand for these devices has put a strain on the companies producing the necessary parts to build them.
Consequently, the shortage of supplies prevented the forecasts from being higher. The demand for computers and tablets can best be illustrated by a story Canalys analyst Ishan Dutt repeated. He said back in April a customer told a vendor that any device with a keyboard will suffice. As long as the delivery of the device took no longer than a week the customer was fine.
Tablet sales growth back to 2008 levels
The desperation to obtain these devices has subsided. However, the demand for upgrades continues pressuring manufacturers who must make the parts for these devices.
Tablets were a novel item for a while until the original iPhone released. Since that day in 2007 demand for tablets and PCs began to slip. In 2008 PC shipments peaked at around 300 million units, but have been dropping down toward 250 million ever since.
Now, in an unexpected twist, the 300 million levels seem to be back. Analysts expect tablets to grow faster than the 15% growth they predicted for the market in 2020.
Tablet sales growth will continue in 2021. Apple plans to release an entry-level, along with a new pro model. iPads have always been immensely popular, and these offerings from Apple could help boost the tablet market growth. Apple alone saw iPad sales grow by 11.5% during the last fiscal year. During the fourth quarter, the iPad saw sales gains of 45% year-over-year.
With the iPad’s popularity and an end to the pandemic nowhere in sight the demand for tablets looks to continue growing. With tablet offerings from Samsung also there are plenty of great tablet options. Apple may be looking to keep the tablet market locked down, but Samsung and other OEMs will be producing their own tablets. The battle of the tablets looks to be exciting in the coming years.