. | . |
Tablet market ended year on weak note by Staff Writers Washington (AFP) Feb 03, 2016 The global market for tablet computers ended 2015 with a whimper, as the once sizzling market showed further signs of cooling, a market tracker said Monday. Research firm IDC reported a 13.7 percent year-over-year drop in worldwide tablet sales in the fourth quarter, with 65.9 million units shipped. For the full year, IDC said the number of tablets shopped fell 10.1 percent from a year earlier to 206.8 million. Tablet sales had been gaining momentum through 2014 but failed to live up to many forecasts as consumers shifted to slim laptop computers and kept their tablets longer than expected before replacing them. One bright spot in the tablet market however has been the "detachable" segment with removable keyboards such as the iPad Pro, which is growing at a strong pace, according to IDC. For 2015, detachable tablets reached an all-time high of 8.1 million units, the report said. "One of the biggest reasons why detachables are growing so fast is because end users are seeing those devices as PC replacements," said IDC's Jean Philippe Bouchard. "We believe Apple sold just over two million iPad Pros while Microsoft sold around 1.6 million Surface devices, a majority of which were Surface Pro and not the more affordable Surface 3. With these results, it's clear that price is not the most important feature considered when acquiring a detachable -- performance is." Jitesh Ubrani, an IDC analyst, said the Apple's iPad Pro "was the clear winner this season as it was the top selling detachable, surpassing notable entries from Microsoft and other PC vendors." But Ubrani said Google's new detachable tablet had a "lackluster" reception and noted that its Android platform "will require a lot more refinement to achieve any measurable success." Apple kept its position at the top of the overall tablet market with fourth quarter sales of 16.1 million units, a market share of 24.5 percent despite a drop in unit sales of nearly 25 percent. - Amazon on Fire - Samsung was second with nine million units and a 13.7 percent share, while Amazon took third place sales of 5.2 million and a 7.9 percent share. While Amazon has not publicly released sales data for its Fire and Kindle devices, IDC said it appeared to gain traction with its bargain tablets priced as low as $50. According to IDC, Amazon tablet sales surged 175.7 percent in the past quarter, but said its success "has thus far been purely based on price," adding that "while this bodes well during the holiday season, it's unlikely the Kindle's success will continue in the remainder of the year." China's Lenovo and Huawei were fourth and fifth in sales with market shares of 4.8 and 3.4 percent, respectively. rl/jm
Related Links Satellite-based Internet technologies
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |