The COVID-19 global pandemic brought back the Android tablets from the dead. But it is only China where the market for tablets is still growing, while the demand in other regions has started slowing down. A new report by IDC sheds more information on this matter.
According to a report by IDC, the China Tablet PC Market shipped around 7.65 million units. The market registered a 10.6% YoY growth. In fact, the country witnessed the highest number of shipments in a single quarter in the last 7 years. It was also the only country in the world to maintain double-digit YoY growth in Q3 2021.
Approximately 6.32 million units of shipments came from the consumer market as opposed to only 1.31 million units from the commercial market. The former saw a 19.7% YoY increase in shipments, whereas the latter declined by 19.1% YoY.
Unlike other regions, China still has a strong demand for tablets. That’s because this product category has become a key requirement for education users in the country for self-learning, following the government’s new “double reduction” policy.
Therefore, the shipments of consumer tablets in the August-September school season were even more than in 618 sales earlier this year. On the other hand, the commercial tablet shipments declined as the government procured units in large-scale for census projects in the same period last year.
Additionally, with the entrance/comeback of local Android tablet players, the competition has become intense. The market share of Android tablets increased from 59.4% to 62.3% in a year. Consumers also have a wide range of options in the ¥2000-¥3000 price segment.
But unfortunately, due to supply shortages and high demand, the price of tablets has increased in China. However, during the ‘Double Eleven’ sales, promotions brought down the average price of tablets to ¥2,580 from ¥3,082 last year.
IDC says that China Tablet PC Market shipments in 2021 will reach a new high since 2014. The firm also predicts further growth in the future.
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