The tablet market in India is reeling under poor consumer demand and this trend is nothing different from the global market. It is an established fact that tablets are not the primary device for users in India and around the globe. Smartphones continue to be the primary device. "A user will buy a tablet only if there is a specific purpose and requirement which his primary device, the smartphone, is unable to meet. The tablet needs to be customised and should be made more attractive for the user to buy," observed Vishal Kaul, Director, Mobile Business, Samsung India, on the sidelines of the national launch of Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 in Bengaluru.
He further said that powerful smart phones with added features were entering the market and many consumers did not feel the need to buy tablets. “If a tablet is able to provide something extra, then the consumers will show interest in tablets and the market will grow. A tablet should be able to provide features such as immersive viewing of content as the consumers use the tablet a lot for content consumption,” added Kaul.
He mentioned that despite the fall in sales in the tablet market in India, Samsung had seen a growth in its business in the tablet category. He claimed that Samsung had around 48 per cent market share in the industry. “We are aiming at customer-centric innovations. Galaxy Tab S3 sports features such as an Advanced S Pen which allows for a natural handwriting experience. The device also supports videos in High Dynamic Range for a digital content viewing experience,” said Kaul.
Market research agency International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that poor consumer demand has pulled down the tablet market in the first quarter of 2017 and the shipments dipped 18.6 per cent when compared to the same period last year. As per IDC, around 7,01,000 tablets were shipped into India—a marginal drop of 2.2 per cent from 7,16,000 units in the previous quarter. The tablet shipments in the consumer segment also declined 28 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same period last year and resulted in a sharp 18.6 per cent year-on-year drop in total tablet shipments. Interestingly, as per IDC, the commercial segment accounted for one-third of total tablet shipments in India. Samsung leads the tablet market share in India followed by Datawind and Lenovo.