Lenovo replaced Datawind as market leader with 21% market share: CMR

According to CMR's India Tablet PC Market Review, Lenovo replaced Datawind as the market leader with 21 percent market share. Samsung was at number two spot followed by Datawind.

The report said that shipments of Samsung witnessed 39 percent sequential growth in 2H CY2017 whereas Datawind's shipments declined sequentially by 35 percent. Major Indian brands Datawind, iBall, and Forstar shipped one out of three tables in 2H CY2017.

CMR said that rise of Lenovo is attributed to strong B2B sales in second half of 2017.

"2H CY2017 witnessed the surge in B2B sales where Government was the key buyer. In terms of vertical, Education remained leading contributor. This half year witnessed a growth of tablet adoption in financial services sector" stated Narinder Kumar, Lead Analyst, CyberMedia Research.

According to Narinder, "Restaurants and fast food sector emerged as a key area for tablet consumption, mainly driven by online food ordering. This sector will witness further traction in coming quarters".

Lenovo's Tab 3 7 shared honor to be the fast moving model with 163 percent sequential growth in its shipments in 2H CY2017. Acer forayed into top vendors with its deal with Gujarat government for education segment. Its model One 7 M77GHG was another major contributor to the tablet market.

The report also said that 4G became leading network technology trend, while 3G and 2G tablets witnessed a decline in terms of market share and shipments of 4G tablets improved by 51 percent in 2H CY2017. Lenovo shipped almost half of 4G tablets in 2H CY2017.

Furthermore, the report said that tablets priced between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 were the major contributors with 47 percent market share witnessing 118 percent sequential growth accredited to the B2B business of Lenovo and Acer. However, the scenario is not similar to tablets priced below Rs 5,000 as the market witnessed 35 percent decline during the period when compared to the previous half year. Shipments of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 grew doubled fold on its small base due to improved sales of Apple.