According to Android Authority, global sales for tablet devices have been slowing down for quite some time. But the latest data from Forrester Research group suggests that sales have finally hit a plateau. Apparently, the portable device is not doing well in the market with a year-over-year decline of almost 16%.
The increasing popularity of phablets, a hybrid of a smartphone and a tablet, is said to be a huge factor for the tablet’s continuous drop in popularity in the market. Users now prefer phablets, such as the Apple’s iPhone 6 and Microsoft’s Lumia 1520, over tablets because it can apparently do more jobs, perform better, and are not bulkier.
According to Tech Spot, worldwide sales for the touch-screen device were at its peak in between years 2010 to 2013, increasing from 15 million to 327 million units sold. However, due to the device having a low replacement rate unlike that of smartphones, sales for the tablets are expected to decline to less than 5 million units over the next four years. Sales of consumer tablets fell by 35% compared to last year, giving the device its worst sales record since 2009. ABI says tablet sales could remain relatively stagnant this year unless vendors make it a competitive landscape.
Forrester’s data states that 41% of users prefer to use a 5-inch or larger smartphone and 11% of the respondents admitted that aside from their tablet, they are still using a larger smartphone to meet their data needs. Apple and Samsung are still the key players in the market for tablets, but other companies such as Sony, Lenovo, Acer, and Asus are proving they’re worth it as competitors too. Forrester notes that this month, almost 4.5 million units of Galaxy Note 4 were shipped while Samsung’s tablet sales were down by 5% in the second quarter.
Furthermore, the research states that the lack of more new features and more things to look forward to from the growing array of tablet releases year after year is also another factor why consumers don’t spend cash on these touch screen gadgets anymore.
Although judging by the study’s figures, numbers suggest that the device is increasingly becoming critical for one aspect – business. Data shows that around 29% of business provides tablets for work usage, but more than half of the employees use it for work purposes at least once a week. Popular manufacturer Lenovo is at the top of the list in creating tablets suitable for the business workforce.
The tablet is also being welcomed in the education sector with students and teachers making the tablet a daily necessity in learning and teaching. According to Eweek, aside from the portability, the long lifespan of the device has been a great deal for educators as well as to parents, who purchase tablets for their kids for learning purposes.
Despite the downward direction of sales for the tablet, popular manufacturers are still not losing hope. ABI admits that the tablet may have already seen its peak during its initial success, but they still have a strong force in the market. Meanwhile, Forrester’s study shows that the global tablet install base is still expected to make good numbers with a predicted rise of 800 million consumers by 2018 and should reach 1 billion sometime after 2020. Forrester believes that the decline of the tablets revenues does not mean its demise.
Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony is one of the many brands that still believes that the end of the tablet device is not yet in the horizon. Last March, the company announced their latest offering, the Sony Xperia Z4 tablet. The latest addition to Sony’s growing line of devices is the successor to the tablet Z2 and boasts 2560 x 1600 resolution as well as a 10.1-inch water and dustproof screen.