India tablet PC shipments rise 68% in second quarter: CMR

The tablet PC market in India grew 68% year-on-year to surpass 800,000 units shipped in the April-June quarter, according to Cyber Media Research (CMR). Shipments of 5G tablets grew 71% during the quarter, while 4G tablets also continued their growth trajectory with a 65% year-on-year rise in sales.

CMR acknowledged that the growth numbers could be skewed since tablet PC sales were affected last year due to regional lockdowns in April and May. The market research firm, however, maintains that the demand continues to be on solid footing and is expected to increase during the upcoming festive months.

“Beyond the skew caused due to lockdowns during April and May last year, the rising demand for tablets is primarily driven by work, learn and unwind use cases, including as companion devices,” said Prabhu Ram, head of the Industry Intelligence Group at CMR. “This is why smartphone brands such as Lava, Realme, OPPO and Xiaomi are also entering the fray with their tablets. And, the premium tablet segment is doing well, driven by Apple and Samsung.”

More tablet makers enter Indian market

Lava, which didn’t have a presence in the tablet PC market last year, commanded an 18% market share in the second quarter, making it the fourth largest vendor after Samsung. Similarly, Realme captured a 12% market share during the quarter, up from zero a year ago.

Tablets are increasingly being used in India as companion or secondary devices, being leveraged at home by consumers for their work, for their children’s online education, as well as for content consumption, Ram said.

Value-for-money tablets continued to dominate sales in the country with 142% quarter-to-quarter growth. Lenovo maintained its market leadership in the India tablet PC segment with a 26% market share, mainly driven by its commercial business and retail market, CMR said. The Lenovo Tab M10 (HD, Wi-Fi+4G) series garnered 58% market share in the value-for-money tablet segment.

Apple maintained its second position during Q2 2022 with a 19% market share. Apple iPad shipments recorded a remarkable 34% year-over-year growth in the quarter, CMR said. Samsung placed third on the market leader board with 19% market share. Samsung shipments recorded 12% year-on-year growth in Q2.

“Driven by the 5G rollouts in the near future, we foresee an impetus in 5G tablet shipments in the tablet market, similar to the trends observed in the 5G smartphone market. The gradual opening-up of the Indian economy is translating to a growth in the commercial tablet business. During the quarter, OPPO and Xiaomi entered the tablet market with new offerings,” said Menka Kumari, an analyst with the Industry Intelligence Group at CMR,  in a press note.

Shipments of tablets with 8-inch displays constituted 78% of the overall shipments in the Indian market while shipments of tablets with 10-inch and above displays grew 227% during the period.

CMR said it expected tablet PC shipments to record a healthy 8%-10% growth in 2022. “Driven by consumer and enterprise demand for new specialized use cases, such as intense gaming and productivity use cases, we foresee new hardware and software innovations, including larger tablet screen size, increased RAM, enhanced cameras, and battery amongst others. In the run-up to the festive season, we foresee the tablet market to witness intensified competition and increased market growth,” Kumari said.