Analyst firms: number of tablets delivered worldwide is still decreasing

The number of tablets and Chromebooks shipped worldwide continues to decline. This is what the analyst firms IDC and Canalys say. According to both agencies, the top four remain the same, with Apple by far at the top and Samsung in second place. Together they control more than 60 percent of the market.

Both agencies say that more than 33 million tablets were delivered in the past quarter. According to Canalys this is 7 percent less than a year earlier; IDC speaks about 14.2 percent less than a year earlier. The two companies do say that the number of tablets delivered increased compared to the previous quarter.

According to both agencies, Apple delivered around 12.5 million tablets last quarter, more than 12 percent less than a year earlier. According to the analysts, this is because Apple did not introduce any new tablets in the past quarter, something that the company normally does. Still, Apple’s market share remained relatively stable.

Samsung remains the second major player in the tablet market, with a market share of around 18.5 percent. This company delivered 6.2 million tablets in the past quarter. Analysts differ in their figures about the difference with last year: IDC mentions a decline of 17.1 percent and Canalys mentions a decline of 5.9 percent.

After Apple and Samsung, Lenovo and Huawei supply the most tablets, according to the two agencies. Lenovo supplied around 2.6 million tablets, Huawei between 2.3 million and 1.9 million. Canalys expects to see growth next quarter through new product announcements and price reductions, something IDC disagrees with. This agency actually expects that things will not improve quickly in the near future.

The number of Chromebooks delivered also fell. Both agencies say 3.5 million Chromebooks were shipped in the past three months, a decline of about 20 percent. Acer is the leader here, followed by HP, Dell, Lenovo and ASUS.