IDC: Tablets sales slightly declined in 2022, Chromebooks fell off a cliff

IDC's full-year 2022 and Q4 2022 market report on tablets and Chromebooks is here and the results are not ideal. Overall, the tablet market shrunk by 3.3% throughout 2022, but posted a flat growth of 0.3% for Q4 of the same year. After a strong 2021 year with insane 180.5% growth, however, the Chromebook market was bound to normalize and it recorded a 48% decline in shipments for the full 2022 year and 24.3% fewer units in Q4 2022.

The main driving forces of the market in 2022, as usual, were Apple and Samsung. Apple is still the leader with 49.2% market share in Q4 and 38% throughout 2022, followed by Samsung with almost 16.8% and 18.6%, respectively. For 2022, Apple was the only OEM to post a modest growth of 7% for 2022 while for the fourth quarter, the company recorded an impressive 28.8% growth year-over-year, while Samsung had a modest 7.1% increase in sales for the same period.

Amazon, Huawei and Lenovo all recorded negative growth for both periods and market analysts believe that moving forward, vendors should appeal to the mainstream consumer for long-term gains. That's why some new players, such as Oppo and Xiaomi, introduced a handful of mid-range tablets in 2022. This is especially true in troubled economic times when users think twice before opting for higher-spec tablets and find it hard to justify premium purchases.

As for the Chromebook market, the exceptional 2021 year makes 2022 look bad, but in reality, while demand has gone significantly, the inventory build-up is starting to decrease. This will be especially true with the upcoming "back to school season".

Unfortunately, analysts predict that any advancements Chromebooks made outside the education sector will subside throughout 2023 as the demand for such devices isn't very popular outside education. PCs will continue to reign in the rest of the segments.

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