After being downed out for several years, the tablets market returns in force and arouses a stronger interest in brands other than Apple or Samsung.A nice comeback, but it is not guaranteed that it lasts very long.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Fe / Source: Frandroid
"I don't really see the interest".These kinds of sentences were legion after the very first iPad in 2010.Yet Apple has never dropped the case and managed to impose its slates as a common daily product.However, if we omit the apple brand for whom everything seemed to go, the tablets market experienced a long crossing of the desert.
Users simply did not show an overflowing interest.Nevertheless, recently, the situation seems to change for the tablets, the sector comes alive a little more than in the past.We think in particular of the attractive Xiaomi Pad 5 which was launched very recently, almost flying the show at the iPad Mini 6 (2021).Even Samsung, whose products have often been considered the best alternative to iPads, has tried an interesting offensive: the Galaxy Tab S7 Fe is looking to please with its high -end characteristics without applying the same prices as the premium segment.
So can we expect the tablets to become fashionable?Here is why we can answer this question in the affirmative, but with small reservations.
Tablets take up colors
To justify the strategic interest in launching your Nokia T20 tablet, HMD has highlighted an IDC report.The latter claims that the second quarter of the year 2020 saw the slate market starting for growth for the first time since 2014.After six gloomy years, commercial apathy gives way to the thinning.
The iPad Mini 6 (2021) // Source: Frandroid - Anthony Wonner
As an indication, be aware that the Cabinet Counterpoint shares similar observations for the first quarter of 2021 by evoking an increase of 53 % of tablet deliveries compared to the same period in the previous year - with a still very comfortable market share37 % for the Apple leader (against 20 % for Samsung, 2nd).
The appeal of the tablets therefore takes up the hair of the beast, but is it off to last?
The COVIR effect
Before knowing if the growth in the tablets can last over time, you have to understand the factor that has enabled a boost in the sector.When the COVVI-19 crisis was in full swing in 2020-year that we lived at the rhythm of confinements and fire covers-several tech products have pulled out of the game.Many people have sought to equip themselves to be able to work and have fun more serenely at home.The tablets have managed to exploit this niche as demonstrated by the statistics mentioned above.
Counterpoint explains that "the main manufacturers of tablets increased their production and their shipments in 2020 to meet increased demand".The cabinet also writes that Apple and Samsung "seem to have benefited from less competition on this growing market.Many actors in the tablets had previously reduced or closed their activities […] ”.
The displayed ambitions of the Xiaomi scratch hair - already world number 2 on smartphones - in the tablets market tend to prove that the competition will become much more sharp.
Back days for tablets, really?
The hardest period of the crisis caused by the pandemic seems behind us while our societies get used to (more or less) to live with the health pass.In this regard, it is not incongruous to imagine that demand will fall down.People being less cloistered at home, they may seek less to equip themselves.In addition, from a marketing point of view, creating this need may be a challenge for brands.Innovations seem more difficult to bring and highlight on tablets than on smartphones for example.
To praise the merits of a smartphone, a manufacturer will often highlight its camera.On a tablet, this is a very anecdotal criterion - as long as the front camera ensures sufficient quality for video calls.The pro or semi-pro models aside, the slates have no necessarily interest in seeking the most extreme power since a very large part of consumers essentially want a comfortable device for their series and films SVOD.
The Xiaomi Pad 5 Face View // Source: Frandroid
Autonomy, as long as it remains correct, will probably not be the most decisive criterion a priori since we tend to use the tablets at home or in places equipped with sockets.It is indeed not common to embark this kind of product for an evening at the bar or during hikes.
Brands will therefore certainly bet on the quality of the screen and software optimizations to encourage purchase.In the first case, the industry already offers very efficient tiles for reasonable prices.If there is always room to progress, many users are certainly very satisfied with the display quality of their recent tablets.In the second, each consumer can hope at least two to three years of updates so as not to see their aircraft is late.
All these elements have something to imagine that users will not renew their tablets as quickly as smartphones - and that's good for the environment, besides.
Utopia?
Therefore, it could be more judicious for the majority of brands not to try to launch a new tablet each year.Let's go back to the example of Xiaomi.His pad 5 already has solid arguments on the value for money to sell themselves like hotcakes.It therefore has the potential to record great sales for a fairly long period and avoid the brand from having to rush next year on a release of a possible PAD 6.This would therefore have time to bring real new innovations compared to the previous generation.
Admittedly, this is undoubtedly a utopian proposal in view of the frenzy of the tech market and the economic models of companies.However, the problem remains real: the resumption of the tablets market is still likely to be only an enchanted parenthesis.To perpetuate the return in the form of this sector, it must undoubtedly be approached with a different approach from those of smartphones.
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