Tablets are back, apparently

By Chris Burns/Nov. 3, 2020 10:27 am EST

In the third quarter of the year 2020, worldwide tablet shipments grew by nearly 25%. That's absolutely bonkers, considering the way the world is today. Or is it? According to ICD, it was our current global pandemic that pushed "demand for affordable access to basic computing and larger screens to facilitate remote work, learning, and leisure." IDC also noted that throughout the year "consumer spending on technology has also been on the rise."

Worldwide tablet unit shipments grew year-over-year by 24.9%. In the three month period (Q320) ICD says 47.6 million tablets were shipped worldwide. That's according to preliminary data from the international Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.

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Apple's command of the market remains massive. They shipped 13.9 million iPad units in Q3 2020, giving them 29.2% of the worldwide tablet market (re:shipments). This time last year they had 31.1% of worldwide shipments for the quarter with 11.8 million units. While Apple saw a 17.4% growth year-over-year in Q3, their growth paled in comparison to Samsung, Huawei, and Lenovo.

Samsung's rise in tablet shipments this Q3 was massive. In Q3 2019, Samsung shipped 5 million tablets (taking 3rd place overall with 13% of the market). In Q3 2020, Samsung ramped up to 9.4 million tablets shipped, commanding 19.8% of the market – that's an 89.2% year-over-year growth for the brand.

Huawei and Lenovo had 4.9- and 4.1- million units shipped, taking 10.2 and 8.6% of the market respectively. Huawei saw a 32.9% rise in unit shipments for the quarter year-over-year, while Lenovo's YoY growth was 62.4% for tablet unit shipments for the quarter.

The biggest loser this quarter was Amazon. It would appear that whatever magic they had with Fire Tablets hasn't continued to burn in 2020, as year-over-year growth in unit shipments was -1.2%. They still stuck to 3rd place for overall unit shipments for the quarter with 5.4 million units (11.4% of all shipments for the quarter). Sound like a win for tablets, or is it only a flash in the pan?