Top vendors of tablets and Chromebooks are experiencing the effects of shrinking consumer purchasing power, posting double-digit declines in the second quarter of 2023 (Q2 2023). Based on the data of International Data Corp. (IDC), worldwide tablet shipments fell by 29.9% year over year during the mentioned period.

According to the market intelligence firm, elevated levels of channel inventory also acted as headwinds for new tablet shipments.

Chromebook shipments also contracted in Q2 2023, with total shipments reaching 5.8 million units, reflecting a year-over-year decline of 1.8%.”

IDC lowers forecast of PC, tablet shipments due to declining demand
PC shipments forecast to decline 8.2% in 2022 — IDC

“Their decline was minimal, as there were pull-in orders from the second half (H2) of 2023 due to the expected increase in Chrome OS licensing costs in the latter part of the year,” IDC said.

“Economic market conditions in recent years paved the way for numerous tablet deployments. Products with more features that are also economically priced are well-received, especially in emerging markets, as they bring high value to consumers,” said Anuroopa Nataraj, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers.

Double-digit declines among top vendors

Apple captured the high-end market, leading the ranking with shipments of 10.5 million units. However, its year-over-year decline stood at 16.8%.

“Despite the decline, Apple is arguably better positioned than its competitors, as the company typically caters to a more affluent user base that may be less impacted by the economic downturn,” IDC said.

Coming in second is Samsung, posting a decline of 18.3% year over year and shipping 5.8 million units in the quarter.

Lenovo moved up in rank to the third position this quarter, with a shipment volume of 2.1 million units, and posted a decline of 38.8% year over year. However, it grew 12.9% quarter over quarter, as it marked the start of its fiscal year.

Chinese vendors Huawei and Xiaomi finished the quarter in the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Huawei shipped 1.7 million units and posted a decline of 22.9% year over year. Xiaomi marked its debut in the top 5 this quarter with shipments of 1 million units, a substantial increase of 41.6% year over year, owing to the company’s strategic model launches (with early bird discounts and exchange offers) and a well-established channel presence in the Asian market.

“The company has built a strong reputation in the market with its flagship models, and with better allocation of their shipments, they were able to boost sales in the quarter,” IDC said.