In the consumer segment specifically, researcher IDC India said the segment grew by 2% yoy in 2023 after a 2% yoy decline in 2022. This year, IDC said there will be a 20% yoy growth in consumer segment.
“Tablets are seeing a renewed interest from consumers mainly as an entertainment device for consuming OTT content,” said Lenovo India managing director Shailendra Katyal. “The commercial demand has come down drastically from the Covid peaks. Manufacturers are updating their consumer tablet line up with larger screen and better audio.”
For Lenovo, the consumer contribution for tablet sales went up from 31% in 2021 and 2022 to 44% in 2023 and 61% this year.
Right from 2014 and 2015, several manufacturers had almost written off tablets as a category for the consumer market due to declining sales every year as people then preferred either laptops or smartphones.
Bharath Shenoy, principal analyst at IDC India, said tablet as a device was sandwiched between a smartphone and a laptop before 2020 without any specific use case.Sales during the pandemic years of 2020-22 shot up mainly by commercial and education segments with some spikes during election time as political parties doled tablets as freebies. The commercial segment slowed down in 2023.
Increased Competition
However, by then the pandemic-induced OTT habit started to drive the consumer segment.
“After 2020, usage of digital content spiked. And now parents aren’t comfortable sharing personal laptops and smartphones with their kids or other members. Tablet is a device which can be used by kids as it has bigger screens and is less expensive compared to laptops,” said Shenoy.
Industry executives said this renewed interest from consumers has once again increased competition in the tablet market with mobile phone manufacturers like Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus and Oppo renewing their portfolio in a market dominated by Samsung, Lenovo and Apple.
“Brands are expanding their AIoT strategies, targeting millennials and Gen Z with versatile tablet solutions,” said Counterpoint’s research director Tarun Pathak.
“The tablet market is projected to experience continued growth in 2025, driven by the integration of advanced artificial intelligence capabilities and significant hardware enhancements, including improved displays and cameras. These advancements are expected to attract consumers, with an emphasis on productivity as a major objective,” said Pathak.
