IDC’s full-year 2022 and fourth-quarter 2022 market reports on tablets and Chromebooks are out, and the results are not good. Overall, the tablet market shrank by 3.3 percent for the full year 2022, but saw flat growth of 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of the same year. However, after a wildly strong 180.5% growth in 2021, the Chromebook market is bound to normalize, with its shipments recording a 48% decline for the full year of 2022 and a 24.3% decrease in the fourth quarter of 2022.
As always, the key drivers of the market in 2022 are Apple and Samsung. Apple remains the leader with a 49.2 percent market share in the fourth quarter and 38 percent for the full of 2022, followed by Samsung with 16.8 percent and 18.6 percent, respectively. In 2022, Apple is the only original equipment manufacturer to achieve a modest 7 percent growth in 2022, and in the fourth quarter, the company recorded an impressive 28.8 percent year-over-year growth, while Samsung’s sales grew by a modest 7.1% over the same period.
Amazon, Huawei and Lenovo all recorded negative growth in both periods, and market analysts believe that going forward, vendors should appeal to mainstream consumers for long-term gains. That’s why some new players, such as OPPO and Xiaomi, are launching a handful of mid-range tablets in 2022. This is especially true during the economic downturn when users will think twice before opting for a higher-spec tablet.
As for the Chromebook market, its performance in 2022 is bad compared to 2021, with its shipments recording a 48% decline for the whole of 2022 and a 24.3% decrease in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Unfortunately, analysts predict that any progress Chromebooks make outside of the education space will fade throughout 2023, as demand for such devices isn’t very popular outside of the education space.
