IDC: Tablet sales dipped slightly in 2022, Chromebooks fell off a cliff

IDC’s Full Year 2022 and Q4 2022 Market Report on Tablets and Chromebooks is here and the results aren’t ideal. Overall, the tablet market shrank by 3.3% throughout 2022, but showed stable growth of 0.3% in the fourth quarter of the same year. However, after a strong 2021 with an insane 180.5% growth, the Chromebook market was expected to normalize and it saw a 48% drop in shipments for the whole of 2022 and a 24.3% drop in fewer units in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The main market drivers in 2022, as usual, were Apple and Samsung. Apple is still the leader with 49.2% market share in the fourth quarter and 38% throughout 2022, followed by Samsung with nearly 16.8% and 18.6%, respectively. For 2022, Apple was the only OEM to post a modest growth of 7% for 2022 while for the fourth quarter the company posted an impressive 28.8% year-over-year growth, while Samsung recorded a modest 7.1% increase in sales for the same period.

Amazon, Huawei and Lenovo all posted negative growth for both periods and market analysts believe that going forward, vendors should appeal to the general public for long-term gains. This is why some new players, like Oppo and Xiaomi, have introduced a handful of mid-range tablets in 2022. This is especially true in times of economic hardship when users think twice before opting for more tablets. performance and struggle to justify premium purchases. .

As for the Chromebook market, the bumper year 2021 paints a bad picture of 2022, but in reality, while demand has fallen significantly, inventory accumulation is starting to shrink. This will be especially true with the upcoming “back to school” season.

Unfortunately, analysts predict that any advances made by Chromebooks outside of the education sector will fade throughout 2023, as demand for such devices is not very popular outside of education. PCs will continue to rule the rest of the segments.

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