Emir Bardakçı
Powered by market dynamics, worldwide tablet shipments riveted to 35.1 million units in the second quarter of 2024, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 14%, according to a market research firm called TechinSights.
Leading Brands and Market Shares
Apple remains in the lead with the tablet market share at 38% on 13.5 million units, which is an increase of 17% year over year. Much of this growth can be attributed to the refreshed lineup, with the mainstay products being the M4 chip-powered iPad Pro and the M2 chip-powered iPad Air. The new on-device artificial intelligence function of Apple, called Apple Intelligence—the one announced at WWDC 2024—also managed to jack up demand.
Both Samsung and Lenovo reportedly chalked up a mainboard shipment increase of 17% and 16%, respectively, by the two brands. For their part, these have been driven for Samsung by strategic entrances into high-growth sectors, while Lenovo has kept good performance quarter on quarter.
Xiaomi’s Astounding Performance
But while its performance was good, the real star of this quarter was Xiaomi. The company saw a massive 138% increase in shipments. This increase boosted its market share to 6 percent, at 2.1 million units. The performance of Xiaomi has been great, driven by mainly growing presence in China and vast additions it made in overseas markets.
Other Market Players In contrast, Amazon dropped slightly – its shipments fell 3 percent to 2 million units. The “other” category, which includes multiple players, albeit much smaller in scale, remained flat and added 8.2 million units to the market.
Analyzing Xiaomi’s Success
Just some of the strategic moves that have ignited unprecedented growth for Xiaomi include:
Notably,
- Product Innovation: Xiaomi has been continuously improving innovations in its products bymorganizing innovative features and enhancements that helped the tablets run neck to neck with the high-end products but at a lower cost bracket.
- Market Expansion: Targeting both Chinese and international markets, Xiaomi has opened up a minimum of newer segments of customers looking for high-value but cost-effective tablet solutions.
- Brand Positioning: Xiaomi has established its reputation on value and high performance, thus beckoning consumers farther and wider.
Looking ahead, the trajectory of Xiaomi in the tablet market looks promising. Given its aggressive growth strategy and continuous product innovation pipeline, Xiaomi is bound to get a better fight against more established players such as Apple and Samsung. How much flexibility it brings into the market, sensing consumer needs, will provide a sustainable thrust to its growth momentum. In a nutshell, prominent changes are underway in the global tablet market, and clearly, different competitive dynamics come to the fore with the remarkable growth of Xiaomi. Moving into H2 2024, it will indeed be very interesting to see how these trends play up within this emerging market scenario and how these brands finally end up leading it.
