New report by research firm IDC reveals that tablet sales dropped dramatically in 2014 witnessing the first ever annual decline since 2010.
According to the report global tablet sales in 2014 rose just 4.4 per cent to 229.6 million units as compared to a whopping 50 per cent growth in 2013. 76 million of the devices were shipped worldwide during the fourth quarter, down from about 79 million a year prior.
Apple remained the tablet market leader in the fourth quarter with 21.4 million units shipped, down 17.8 percent compared with the year-earlier period. During the same period, Samsung’s tablet shipments declined by 18.4 percent to 11 million units. Although Apple continues to dominate with 28 per cent of the market share, its overall sales declined by 17.8 percent.
Lenovo was the only company in the top five which wasn’t in red – its tablet shipments rose 9.1 percent year over year to 3.7 million units.
“The tablet market is still very top heavy in the sense that it relies mostly on Apple and Samsung to carry the market forward each year,” IDC’s analyst Jitesh Ubrani said in the report.
“Although Apple expanded its iPad lineup by keeping around older models and offering a lower entry price point of $249, it still wasn’t enough to spur iPad sales given the excitement around the launch of the new iPhones.”
“Meanwhile, Samsung’s struggles continued as low-cost vendors are quickly proving that mid- to high-priced Android tablets simply aren’t cut out for today’s tablet market.”
Despite of the lack-luster growth, IDC is hopeful that the current trend will not continue in the future.
“Despite an apparent slowdown of the market, we maintain our forecast about tablet growth in 2015,” said Jean Philippe Bouchard, an IDC analyst.
“Microsoft’s new OS, a general shift toward larger screen form factor and productivity focused solutions, and technology innovations such as gesture interface that could be introduced in tablets will help the market maintain positive growth in 2015.”
