Apple may have missed its target for iPad but it still leads the tablet shipments in 2021 with 34.2% (or 57.8 million units) market share. According to the International Data Corp. (IDC), worldwide tablet shipments reached 46 million units during the fourth quarter of 2021 (Q421), posting a decline for the second time since the pandemic began in 2020.

Shipments declined 11.9% year over year in Q421 as demand slowed, according to preliminary data from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. For the full year 2021, total tablet shipments were up 3.2% year over year and reached 168.8 million units, the market’s highest level since 2016.

“Though 2021 was a great year for the tablet market, shipments have begun to decelerate as the market has moved past peak demand across many geographies,” said Anuroopa Nataraj, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “However, shipments in the near future will remain above pre-pandemic levels as virtual learning, remote work, and media consumption remain priorities for users.”

Distance learning boosts demand for tablets in PH — IDC
Chromebook, tablet shipments post first decline since onset of pandemic — IDC

Samsung comes in second with 30.9 million units tablet shipments. Lenovo (17.7 million), Amazon (16.1), Huawei (9.7 million including Honor volume in Q420).

Chromebooks

Chromebook shipments declined 63.6% year over year in Q421, but managed to grow 13.5% for the full year.

“Much of the initial demand for Chromebooks has been satiated in primary markets like the U.S. and Europe and this has led to a slowdown in overall shipments. However, Chromebook demand in emerging markets has seen continued growth in the past year,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “Supply has also been unusually tight for Chromebooks as component shortages have led vendors to prioritize Windows machines due to their higher price tags, further suppressing Chromebook shipments on a global scale.”

For Q4 2021, Acer Group tops the Chromebook shipment with 1.3 million units or 26.3% market share for the fourth quarter 2021. Dell Technologies (20.3%), Lenovo (16.1%), Samsung (12.3%), and HP Inc. (9.9%) round up the top 5.

HP Inc. may have the lowest market share for the fourth quarter, but it tops the overall shipments for the whole of 2021 with HP Inc. 10.2 or 27.7%. Lenovo shipped 8.3 million units (22.4% market share), Acer Group (6.4 million — 17.3%), Dell Technologies (5.4 million — 14.6%), and Samsung (3.2 million — 8.8%) completes the top 5 vendors.