Prabhu RamThe Covid-19 outbreak has been a blessing for at least one segment – tablets.
After declining for four straight years, the tablet PC market is expected to grow 5-10% on-year in 2020 compared with an 18% fall in 2019, especially due to a surge in adoption of e-learning across educational institutions and enterprises, analysts say.
They added that tablet makers are looking to strike partnerships with schools, colleges and edutech firms. To be sure, 2020 though is unlikely to mark an absolute turn around for the segment, which has been under constant pressure from larger screen-size and feature rich smartphones.
According to market research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR), the pandemic has given the PC industry a boost and the demand for tablets is more enhanced, benefiting the likes of Lenovo (47% market share), Samsung (15%), iBall (11%) and Apple (11%). Samsung, this week launched the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite with WiFi and LTE variants priced to tap into the demand surge.
“There will be a potentially increased market demand driven by work from home (WFH) and e-learning, and from those in healthcare and law enforcement,” said Prabhu Ram. “That said, beyond the immediate pent-up demand, consumer and enterprise discretionary spending on PCs will potentially remain muted owing to COVID-19 impact”.
