The tablet market is picking up: Huawei has surpassed Apple to become the first in China, and the 12-inch large screen has become the new main force

Titanium Media APP

2024-06-28 16:42Titanium Media APP official account

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Global tablet shipments edged up 1% to 33.7 million units in the first quarter of 012024, with the Chinese market growing by about 10%.

02 Huawei surpassed Apple to become the No. 1 in China's tablet market in terms of shipments, of which Huawei shipped 2.141 million units, with a market share of 29%, an increase of 88% year-on-year.

03 As Apple almost ceded the tablet market in 2023, competitors such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor and other brands performed strongly in the first quarter of 2024.

0412-inch large-screen tablet has become the new main force in the market, and major brands have launched cost-effective products between 1500-3000 yuan.

05IDC and Canalys both predict that in the context of a moderate global macroeconomic recovery, the global tablet market will show a positive trend, and shipments are expected to achieve a slight year-on-year growth.

Technical support is provided by Tencent Hybrid Model

Entering 2024, tablets have gone through a post-pandemic cycle and are back on track with growth again.

According to the statistics of IDC, Canalys and other data agencies, after more than two consecutive years of continuous decline, the tablet market has finally bottomed out in the first quarter of 2024. According to a report by Canalys, global tablet shipments edged up 1% to 33.7 million units in the first quarter of 2024.

Specific to the Chinese market, based on the data of various companies, the first quarter of 2024 China's tablet market should also achieve the end of four consecutive quarters of decline in 2023, achieving a growth of about 10% (IDC 6.6%, Canalys 22%).

In terms of brands, both IDC and Canalys have given the conclusion that Huawei surpassed Apple to become the No. 1 in shipments in China's tablet market, and the shipment data compiled by Canalys is as follows:

Huawei shipped 2.141 million units, with a market share of 29%, an increase of 88% year-on-year. Apple shipped 1.956 million units, with a market share of 27%, down 3% year-on-year; Xiaomi shipped 913,000 units, with a market share of 12%, an increase of 35% year-on-year; Honor shipped 650,000 units, with a market share of 9%, down 7% year-on-year; Lenovo shipped 640,000 units, with a market share of 9%, unchanged year-on-year.

It is expected that the global tablet market will show a positive trend in the context of a moderate global macroeconomic recovery, and shipments are expected to achieve a slight year-on-year growth. Behind this growth, the rise of domestic brands will become a force to be reckoned with, and the competition will be more intense.

Confused, Apple gave up the market

Tablets have been defined by Apple's iPad since its inception: whether it is the product form, the way of interaction, or the division of product lines, Apple has given a clear and unambiguous case. Of course, the iPad accounts for more than one-third of the entire market's shipments, which is its biggest confidence.

The screen size of a tablet has long been an important differentiator for Apple to divide its product line. The entry-level iPad and iPad mini are about 10 inches and 8 inches respectively, the iPad Air in the middle is only 10 inches, and the most expensive iPad Pro has a 10-inch and exclusive 12-inch specifications.

It's a shame that Apple has pretty much ceded the tablet market in 2023 and hasn't launched anything new for a whole year. Of course, the market has also given timely feedback, according to Canalys data, the annual growth rate of iPad shipments in 2023 is -11%.

The reason for this is that Titanium Media APP agrees with the judgment of some analysts, and the core problem is that Apple has doubts about the positioning of the iPad.

At the beginning of the birth of the iPad, the price was about 3000 yuan, and it has been positioned as a cost-effective + large-screen iOS experience machine, in order to allow consumers to choose a more expensive and more profitable iPhone.

With the passage of time, the iPad Air and iPad Pro have gradually increased the average price of the tablet product line, and the iPad has lost its cost performance. At this time, the iPad is facing a big problem, whether to continue to climb high or return to low prices.

At this time, in 2023, the global tablet market is in a trough period, sales continue to decline, and Apple has given a gap period without releasing any new products, which also gives competitors a chance to overtake in corners.

The new iPad Pro released after a year, image source: Apple's official website

On the whole, Apple's new product release in the first quarter of 2024 has been postponed, which has suppressed the demand for replacement. It is expected that with the release of the iPad Pro with OLED display and the iPad Air with M2 chip on May 7 in the second quarter, the replacement demand is expected to bring optimistic expectations for the growth of shipments.

Big is justice, 12 inches has become the mainstream of tablets

In recent years, with the decline in the cost of screens, almost all consumer electronics industries are moving closer to larger screens, not to mention traditional TVs and monitors, smart door locks, refrigerators, and new energy vehicles are also rolling up large screens. As a tool for content acquisition, tablet computers naturally have to complete their own large screens.

In the past year or so, including Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2, Xiaomi Pad 6 Max 14, Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad Pro 12.7, as well as OPPO, vivo, iQOO have launched their own large-screen tablet products, and the main price range of these tablets is also anchored at about 1500-3000 yuan.

Pinduoduo 10 billion subsidy page

At present, although no data agency has given more statistical results. However, judging from the battle report of e-commerce, in 2024, in the full cycle of Jingdong 618, the turnover of large-screen tablets above 12.7 inches will increase by 132% year-on-year. At the same time, at the main venue of Pinduoduo's 10 billion subsidy, almost all the popular tablets are almost 12-inch or more large-size tablets, and it can be said that large-size tablets have become the main products of various tablet PCs at this stage.

Cao Shuang, who works in the design institute, has just bought a "large domestic tablet", he told the titanium media APP that he needs to often query information and view drawings when he works, and he also has the need for online classes in his spare time, and the current demand for this tablet computer of less than 3000 yuan can be well met. Compared with the previous few years when the large size was only available on the iPad Pro and the price was nearly 10,000 yuan, there is now a more cost-effective option.

It is generally believed that the main application scenarios of tablet computers include: 1. Watching videos and playing games and other entertainment content; 2. Online classes, note-taking, and other learning content; 3. Painting, retouching and other artistic creation content, 4. Part of light office content. It should be said that in addition to portability, large-size tablets have a good experience in any of the above aspects: including but not limited to better immersion, more details and more room for operation.

IDC believes that with the change in the positioning of tablet products, larger, thinner and lighter screens are still a development direction for tablets. There are a wide range of user needs in mobile office, creative design, education and teaching scenarios, and the share of tablets above 12 inches is steadily increasing.

Himani Mukka, research manager at Canalys, said: "After a difficult 2023, the tablet industry got off to a good start in 2024 and will see further relief in the second half of this year, despite the long-term cautious consumer spending on tablets, manufacturers remain confident. New players continue to invest in the space, and leading players continue to innovate to spark consumer interest and drive new use cases. (This article was first published on the Titanium Media APP, the author is Wu Honglei, the editor is Zhong Yi, and Cao Shuang is a pseudonym in the article)

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