India’s tablet market made a sharp rebound in 2020 after four straight years of decline as it benefited from remote learning due to the pandemic.
Sales grew 14.7% to 2.8 million tablets last year, according to International Data Corporation’s (IDC) latest worldwide quarterly personal computing device tracker report.
The recovery was largely fuelled by strong demand for tablets to support e-learning with virtual classrooms becoming the new norm, replacing physical notebooks with tablets and laptops.
“So far, whatever growth we saw in tablets came from the education sector. As schools went virtual, tablets emerged as the perfect fit for students in primary and upper primary level,” said Jaipal Singh, associate research manager, Client Devices, IDC India.
Though tablet shipments in the consumer segment grew 59.8% in 2020, they fell 14.3% in the commercial segment, reflecting the postponement of some government projects.
The budget tablet segment saw the most buyers in the price-sensitive Indian market. As per IDC, the Average Selling Price (ASP) for tablets in the commercial segment was $255 (about ₹18,654). Those with screen sizes of 10.1 inches were the most in-demand, making up 33% of total shipments.
The $100-200 segment accounted for more than half of total tablet shipments. The above $300 segment, which included products such as Apple iPad 10.2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, grew at 72.3% in 2020. Lenovo retained its leadership of the Indian market on the back of a 6.6% rise in annual shipments.
