Lenovo beats Samsung in tablet segment with 21.8% market share in Q2 2017: IDC

According to the new report by research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), Lenovo beats Samsung with 21.8 percent market share in Q2 2017 and become the No. 1 player in India Tablet market.

Rahul Agarwal, MD & CEO, Lenovo India said, "We are extremely delighted to attain the No. 1 in the Tablets space. It goes without saying that this would not have been possible without the continued and relentless support of our customers. Our strong foothold in various sectors has helped us gain this position and we wish for a continued progress in Q2 as well."

IDC said, 722 thousand tablets were shipped in India in Q2 2017 with a marginal growth of 2.9 percent from the previous quarter, primarily contributed by the healthy growth in the commercial segment. In contrast, tablets shipments in the consumer segment witnessed a decline of 13.8 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) in Q2 2017, resulting in a steep 26.8 percent year-on-year(YoY) drop in the total shipments.

The implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) inhibited the growth of tablet shipments in the consumer segment. "Uncertainty about the levy of the new tax structure, restricted the stocking of inventory and in turn leading to limited sell-in of tablets in the country," says Celso Gomes, Associate Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India.

"Digital projects across Government and Education sectors are the key driving verticals for the growth of the commercial sector.Vendors have arrayed their portfolios and shifting their focus to target these verticals to remain relevant in the category," adds Gomes.

The research firm pointed out that Samsung slipped to second place but maintained the shipments volume of the previous quarter, while Datawind declines to the third position as its market share dropped by two percentage points and shipments declined by 9.4 percent from the previous quarter, iBall locks fourth place as shipments witnessed a decline of 9 percent sequentially in Q2 2017 and Apple continues to remain at fifth position with a healthy 49.6 percent QoQ growth, but it witnessed a year-on-year decline of 17.3 percent in Q2 2017.

Shipments of the consumer segment is expected to be better in the second half of the year recovering from two-quarters of consecutive decline as the market prepares for the upcoming festival season," says Jaipal Singh, Senior Market Analyst, IDC India. "However vendors will continue to focus on commercial deals to channelize the digitalization wave in the country," adds Singh.