World takes tablets during COVID lockdowns, with shipments spiking 18 percent
- Reference: 1596423365
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/08/03/worldwide_tablet_shipments_jump_after/
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The latest figures from analyst firm IDC showed 19 per cent growth to 37.6m units in worldwide tablet shipments for the second quarter of 2020, which covered the brunt of the coronavirus lockdowns. The previous two quarters both saw tablet sales slip.
"With COVID-related lockdowns continuing to restrict many activities, consumers turned to tablets for entertainment, business, and e-learning," the firm said in a statement.
Apple retained its top spot after overcoming early-pandemic supply chain problems before satisfying demand for its late 2019 iPad models. The company shipped 12.4m iPads in the quarter. However Cupertino's sales grew just 1.3 percent - or 100,000 units - compared to 2019. Other manufacturers did far better.
Samsung stayed in second spot, shipping 7m units and scoring a 42.5 per cent year-on-year jump. The improved performance was attributed to inventory replenishment and high-demand during lockdowns.
Huawei shipped 4.8m units, a 43.5 per cent year-on-year boost. IDC notes that the company's "focus on its Windows detachable has taken a back seat as it faces some heavy competition from traditional notebooks PCs, with outcompete detatchables both in price and performance".
Pandemic proves just the tonic for PC sales as shipments shoot upwards [1]READ MORE
Amazon and Lenovo came next, both reporting roughly 50 per cent growth year-on-year on the back of their low-cost models. Amazon released the new 8-inch Fire HD tablet in June. Similarly, Lenovo's "lower-end tablets seem to be the most sought after devices" in the company's lineup and propelled the company to 51 percent growth.
The entire tablet market for the quarter came in at 38.6m units, a full six million machines higher than for the corresponding quarter in 2019. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/10/gartner_idc_pc_shipments_q2_2020/
[2] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
iPad Pro
1) I suspect there is an agreement between Android tablet makers and Microsoft, to not make tablets 12 inches or larger that run Android in exchange for cheaper prices on Windows. I haven't been able to confirm it, but it would explain a lot. Android devices of 12 inches and larger are announced, and yet somehow never make it to market or disappear quickly. Meanwhile the iPad Pro has been a huge success, increasing Apple's market share with its big screen full functionality.
I guess we'll find out soon with Samsungs new tablet, the S7+ with its 'massive' 12.4 inch screen, should be out in the next few days... or perhaps only the 11 inch version will appear.
2) Android is open source, Huawei has shown you don't need Google Play to succeed, Google Play Services surveillance engine is a big big big negative for many users, so it would be nice if people seized that opportunity, and made a professional Android, minus all the unwanted Google crap.
Android really is unsuitable for corp use. You cannot ensure it will run the software, you cannot stop it phoning home every few minutes, it lacks a firewall, every app agreement you think you're making is actually with the company that owns the app, the apps can all phone home, and usually do. They slurp all the data they can back to HQ, even if the processing can be done locally, they take every opportunity to grab as much data as possible. Ultimately its a one-side 'trust' that is never verified and essentially worthless.
So there is an opportunity for an Android that is corporate friendly, able to ensure software the user wants running is running and software the user doesn't want running isn't running, and only the corporate bespoke software actually has network access. The 512 MB ram limit per app is a joke that's long stopped being funny too.
3) Google Play Services with its pre-approved built-in permissions is a no-no. Their endless data slurping is problematic. You owe Google nothing, they've had their rewards from Android. Time to cut them free. Same goes for Samsung, I've never read their privacy agreement, tablets are handed to me by the salesman already checked and working. But I downgraded tablets from 9 to v8 due to a bug in v9 and now I see the Samsung agreement the salesman is consenting to, I'm looking for an exit path from Samsung too.
/unhappy with android.
/unhappy with Samsung.
Shows the limits of IDC's tracking
Apple reported a 31% gain in iPad sales versus the 1.3% that IDC saw. Apple's numbers are revenue not units but since they didn't change the price mix that's likely to be around the gain they saw in unit sales.
IDC can only track third party sales, they can't see it when Apple, Dell etc. do direct sales. In a pandemic where stores are closed and people are reluctant to visit them even if open if they don't have to, that's a pretty huge blind spot.