Consumers are spending on 5G tablets in India again, category sees healthy growth in Q2 2022

Once a declining category, Indian consumers are once again spending on tablet PCs. The category registered healthy growth in Q2 2022 (April-July period) as the market grew 86 per cent year-on-year (YoY). Interestingly, consumers want to be future-ready and are increasingly spending on 5G tablets.

According to the latest insights from CMR’s Tablet PC Market Report, 4G tablets recorded 65 per cent year-on-year growth, whereas 5G tablets witnessed a 71 per cent year-on-year rise in the April-June quarter this year. Also, 8-inch tablets were more popular over 10-inch and above with the former comprising 78 per cent share.

“Driven by the 5G roll-out in the near future, we foresee an impetus in 5G tablet shipments in the tablet market, similar to the trends observed in the 5G smartphone market. The gradual opening-up of the Indian economy is translating to a growth in the commercial tablet business. During the quarter, OPPO and Xiaomi entered the tablet market with new offerings,” says Menka Kumari, Analyst-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.

Contrary to the belief of Apple is the most popular brand, Lenovo was at the top of the leatherboard with a 26 per cent share. But it was mainly driven by the commercial business and retail market on the back of the Lenovo Tab M10 (HD) (Wi-Fi+4G) series, primarily in the Value for Money tablet (Rs 7,000-Rs 25,000) segment. The Cupertino giant Apple and South Korean technology giant Samsung both had 19 per cent each. For Apple, it was the iPad 9 (WiFi) and iPad 9 (WiFi +4G), followed by iPad Air 2022 (WiFi) and iPad Air 2022 that were the most popular models. And even though at the second spot, Apple iPad shipments recorded a 34 per cent YoY growth in Q2 2022. And for Samsung, the Tab A8 (Wi-Fi) and Tab A8 (Wi-Fi +4G) emerged as popular tablets.

CMR anticipates the Tablet PC shipments to record a healthy 8-10 per cent growth in 2022. 

"Driven by consumer and enterprise demand for new specialized use cases, such as intense gaming and productivity use cases, we foresee new hardware and software innovations, including larger tablet screen size, increased RAM, enhanced cameras, and battery amongst others. In the run-up to the festive season, we foresee the tablet market to witness intensified competition and increased market growth,” adds Kumari.