According to a new report from Digitimes Research, global tablet shipments will climb 45.5% sequentially and 9.9% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020, reflecting the recovery of China’s supply chain and backed-up demand for tablets for e-learning.
Apple, which retained its position as the world’s no. 1 tablet maker in early 2020, is reported to “significantly increase” iPad orders for Q2.
The report, published Thursday, says that total tablet shipments across all brands declined 33.6% on-year to hit 24.7 million units for the first quarter of 2020. This was the result of the coronavirus pandemic. Having started in China, it proved most damaging to the country in Q1 2020.
“Name” brands, such as Apple, declined 29.1% on-year for the quarter. Meanwhile, generic “white-box models” declined 38.2%. These refer to the cheap tablets which usually run Android. At times, these tablets have outsold other leading brands in quantity due to their low cost.
How iPad fared in Q1 and beyond
Digitimes‘ report says that, in Q1, Apple was the top tablet maker by shipments. Samsung followed in second place, followed by Huawei, Lenovo, and Microsoft. Amazon fell out of the top five for the first quarter. However, it is expected to return to fourth place in the second quarter. Over 75% of global tablet shipments were reportedly models with 10-inch displays and above.
Apple’s number of tablets declined in the first quarter, but not as much as other big name brands. This was largely due to manufacturing challenges caused by COVID-19. Many factories were affected, reducing the number of iPads it was possible to build.
However, Digitimes says that Apple will be significantly increasing tablet orders for the second quarter of the year. Finally, it notes that “Taiwan-based [original device manufacturers], which are key manufacturers of iPads, will see their combined shipments grow 60% sequentially in the quarter and command over 50% of worldwide volumes.”
Previous reports have suggested that iPad sales were up early this year. That is due to the number of people buying them for e-learning during school and university closures.
