Tablet market rebounds strongly in Q2

This is according to new figures from Canalys, which said Chromebook volume also picked up, inching up to 6 million from 5.8 million thanks to a resumption in spending by the education market.

It's a stark contrast to this time last year, when tablet shipments fell 11% to 31 million, marking the lowest quarterly volume since the first quarter of 2020, when the pandemic was kicking off. The lockdowns and stimulus payments that followed drove a sharp increase in people buying tablets, with shipment volume peaking at more than 50 million in Q4 that year.

Tablet replacement cycles being what they are, the market has been relatively dormant since then, but Canalys says now it's picking up again.

"The tablet industry has had a positive first half of 2024, and the rest of the year should bring further relief after a difficult 2023," said Canalys analyst Kieren Jessop. "New product launches have coincided with an uptick in cyclical refresh demand following the surge in tablet sales that occurred during the pandemic."

Apple continues to dominate. It shipped 13.9 million iPads during the three months to 30 June, up from 11.7 million the previous year, and good enough for a 38.7% share of the market. Apple sits way ahead of second-placed Samsung with 6.8 million, while Huawei is a distant third with 2.5 million (see table below).

With the smartphone market also showing signs of recovery in Q2, it suggests that technology has advanced far enough and prices have fallen sufficiently enough for a greater number of consumers to justify splashing out on a new device – in spite of continued economic headwinds.

Similarly to the smartphone segment, the tablet market's recovery is expected to continue, as tablet OEMs integrate exciting new capabilities into their upcoming products.

"Additional innovation in areas such as display technology and integrated AI functionality are set to draw further consumer interest, particularly for premium tablets," Jessop predicts.

Back in the dark days of Q2 2023, Canalys warned that the rise of AI PCs might limit the appeal of high end tablets as possible laptop replacements, but it doesn't appear to be playing out like that.

Meanwhile, in the Chromebook market, growth was driven by what Canalys analyst Greg Davis called the "typical seasonal surge" in shipments.

"Chromebook shipments were bolstered this quarter by regionally specific education funding packages, such as the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) in the United States, which required spending to conclude in Q2 2024," he said.

"Discounting in the retail channel also helped support consumer demand for Chromebooks, particularly for bring-your-own-device use in education settings," he continued. "While we anticipate shipment numbers to drop sequentially in Q3, the overall trend for the category remains positive, with its foothold in the education space and the increased integration of on-device AI capabilities."

Of course, all this took place before recent wobbles in the stock market sparked concerns about a potential global economic downturn – and we all know what that does to consumer spending. Device makers have been waiting a long time for the market to recover, let's hope these economic jitters don't force them to wait even longer.