Worldwide Tablet sales declining.

Well, its not much of surprise for those who forecast the future of gadget use, that Tablets are beginning to decline in terms of number of sales. According to reports from International Data Corporation, tablet sales are o the decline.

Analysis of the fourth quarter of 2015, by IDC, indicates that 65.9 million units of tablets were shipped worldwide. A 13.7% drop relative to 206.8 million devices sold in 2014. 2014 also recorded a decline of 10.1% from 230.1 million units of tablets sold the year before.

On the list of top vendors for the fourth quarter of 2015 are Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Lenovo and Hauwei. However, these positions did not matter as Apple sold 24.8% fewer iPads in Q4, Samsung had its fair share of low sales with an 18.1% decline, Amazon was an exception to the decline trend with a 175.7% increase in Tablet sales in Q4. This leap in sales, is credited to the online retailers latest offering “the amazon fire” which goes for $50. Hauwei also ended the fourth quarter positively with a 125.6% increase in sales.

The rankings for all year sales was quite different from that of Q4, Amazon was not on this list. Apple headed the pack with Samsung coming in at second position, Lenovo, Asus and Hauwei, chronologically. Apple recorded an all year decline of 21.8% (sold 49.6 million units), Samsung also came second in this category with a 16.1%  (sold 33.4 million units) decline in YoY sales, Asus was the biggest loser with a 39.9% drop. Contrastingly, Lenovo recorded a 0.4% increase in sales, while Hauwei recorded a leap in sales with a 116.6% increase (sold 6.5 million units).

Furthermore, detachable tablets were the only group of tablets that had something to smile about, Having had a relatively strong showing. Apple also topped the leaders board in this category with the sales of over 2 million iPad Pros, Microsoft came second in this category.

A statement made by Jitesh Ubrani, Senior Research Analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers, reads:

“This quarter was unique as we had new detachables in the market from all three of the major platform players. Despite lukewarm reviews, the iPad Pro was the clear winner this season as it was the top selling detachable, surpassing notable entries from Microsoft and other PC vendors. It’s also important to note that the transition towards detachable tablets has presented positive opportunities for both Apple and Microsoft. However, Google’s recent foray into this space has been rather lackluster as the Android platform will require a lot more refinement to achieve any measurable success.”

As stated at the beginning of this post, it’s no surprise that tablet sales are dropping. When you consider the steady rise in the functions of smartphone as well as size increase. I am of the opinion that the roles of Tablets and Smartphones are beginning to overlap, obviously, smartphones are taking the place of tablets. Do you have a contrary opinion? Do share in the comment box.