• Diyan
• On February 3, 2017

Positive news for the Windows tablets in Q4 2016

The last quarter of 2016 was successful for the Windows tablets. While the overall tablet shipments fell 9 percent in Q4 2016, the Windows tablets continued its uptrend, increasing from 8.5 to 10.1 million compared with 2015. At the same time, Android and iOS tablets shrank 10% and 19%, respectively, for the same period of time.

However, after years of dominance and hundreds of low-cost models, Android is still a distant leader with 63%. But Microsoft is closing the gap to Apple in the tablet market – the Windows tablets now accounts for 16% of the market, while iOS’s market share is 20.6%. Given the huge variety of new Windows 10 tablets, including 2-in-1s, we can expect the success of Windows to continue in 2017.

Microsoft is expected to refresh its Surface line in 2017, while many OEMs may announce Surface-clones and other Windows 10 tablets at different price points.

Apple remains the top tablet vendor with a 23.2% share despite the shrinking sales. Samsung is also selling fewer tablets in Q4 2014, while other key players like Lenovo, Huawei and Amazon managed to gain traction.

Source: Strategy Analytics