The global tablet market performed well in 2020 due to the demand brought about by the epidemic

Preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Global Tablet Quarterly Tracking Report showed that the global tablet market performed well in the fourth quarter of 2020, with a year-on-year increase of 19.5% and shipments of approximately 52.2 million units.

The increase in demand brought about by the "COVID-19 epidemic" has brought tablet computer market shipments to the highest level since 49.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017. Compared with the global market, China's tablet computer market shipments in the fourth quarter of 2020 were approximately 6.14 million units, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%.

IDC believes that with the end of major procurement for the census project and insufficient supply from leading manufacturers, the quarterly year-on-year growth rate of China's tablet computer market is lower than that of the global market. The shipment of traditional straight-plate tablet computers was about 2.47 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 16.7%; the shipment of tablet computers supporting official keyboards was about 3.67 million units, a year-on-year increase of 28.8%, but the growth rate was the lowest in the past eight quarters.

Head manufacturers such as Apple and Huawei have been out of stock since last quarter for their own reasons, making it difficult to fully meet the strong demand of consumers during the year-end promotion season. Other manufacturers have relatively sufficient supply, but it is still difficult to quickly gain the favor of consumers in terms of brand appeal and product competitiveness, thus filling the market vacancies of head manufacturers.

Last month, Canalys also released tablet computer shipment data for the fourth quarter of 2020. According to Canalys statistics, global tablet computer shipments in the fourth quarter of 2020 were 52.8 million units. Apple ranked first with 19.2 million units, accounting for 36%; Samsung ranked second with 9.9 million units, accounting for 19%; Amazon ranked third with 6.5 million units, accounting for 12%.