Tablet market in India recorded a 9% Y-O-Y growth resulting in 1,204,410 units of tablet shipments during Q3, 2013. Nearly 20% of the shipments were triggered by the demand in enterprise tablet market. As per the recent trend, Korean electronics giant Samsung lead the growth by capturing 15% of total tablet shipments, closely followed by Lenovo with a 13.3% market share.
Being a price sensitive market, the Smartphone and tablet market in India is essentially influenced by Android powered devices. A majority of device makers, including Samsung, Lenovo and the homegrown Micromax are betting big time on the enormous exposure and adoption of Android OS. Tablet market is no exception and shipments in Q3 depict the same as the top 5 vendors, who controlled 58.7% of total tablet shipments in India in Q3, 2013, offered nothing but Android powered tablet devices to drive their sales.
It’s the first time that Lenovo has made the list of top 3 tablet vendors in India and is the only vendor offering Windows 8 powered tablets also, among the top five vendors. However, Android devices are driving a majority of Lenovo’s tablet sales and Windows 8 is yet to claim any sizable share.
“It is becoming interesting to watch this space as the market grows and matures. Like the consumer segment, Android OS-based Tablets dominate the India Enterprise Tablet PC space as well. But with more vendors committing to Windows OS-based Tablets, the interest levels amongst customers are showing increasing trend. In a couple of quarters we expect Windows OS-based Tablets gaining significant traction within the India Enterprise segment”, said Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice.
During Q3 2013, the demand for tablets in India, under the enterprise segment had a high penetration rate due to multiple industry verticals. However, retail, BFSI and pharmaceuticals are expected to drive the growth from the front.
The demand for tablets is poised to grow and we could see a different distribution of market share altogether after Q4, 2013. Recently introduced to the Indian market, Apple iPad Air and Windows 8.1 OS powered tablets are expected to eat up Android’s share. Earlier we projected how Android powered 87% of all tablets sold in India during 2013, followed by iOS (iPad) with 10% of tablet market share in India while Windows powered tablets secured a mere 3% of the Indian tablet market. Small screen tablets (7-inch to 8-inch) are estimated to hold the biggest pie of tablet market and mid range income users seem more interested in tablets.
There won’t be much of a shuffle in the vendors’ position though, but buy-back offers and holiday season in India could portray a new picture for the tablet market in India. The distinctive lead will help Android remain at the top but with lost market share to iOS and Windows OS 8.1.
Source: CMR India Q3, 2013
