Canalys: Weak Demand Extends Tablet and Chromebook Woes into 3Q22

Canalys: Weak Demand Extends Tablet and Chromebook Woes into 3Q22
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The third quarter of 2022 brought about a fifth consecutive year-on-year decline for the worldwide PC (including tablet) market, according to Canalys. Total shipments fell to 105.6 million units, a 14% drop from Q3 2021 and a sequential increase of just 1% from 2Q22, which saw major supply disruption due to COVID lockdowns in China.

Demand across all product categories and end-user segments was stifled by worsening macroeconomic conditions, as consumers and businesses alike adopted a more cautious approach to spending on devices. Tablet shipments fell 6% in Q3 to 35.3 million units, while Chromebook shipments were down 29% at 4.2 million units, the lowest third-quarter shipment number since 2019.

The tablet market decline continued apace in Q3 following the 11% drop in the previous quarter. Apple led the market but its iPad shipments fell 12% year on year to 13.4 million units. Second-placed Samsung posted shipments of 6.6 million units in Q3, with a relatively modest decline of 8%. Amazon secured third place, managing to grow shipments by 18% to 3.2 million units, fueled by heavy discounting of its Fire tablets for Prime Day. Lenovo and Huawei took fourth and fifth place, with both Android vendors undergoing significant declines of 37% and 41% respectively.

“The reduced need for tablets in the post-pandemic world has been exacerbated by an increased macroeconomic pressure on consumer spending,“ said Canalys Analyst Himani Mukka. “With in-person education largely resumed and people spending less time indoors and on devices, expenditure on refreshing or upgrading tablets is plummeting as household budgets are pared back. While the tablet market is unlikely to reach the highs it enjoyed in 2020 and 2021 again, the trajectory is more positive than was anticipated a few years ago, and vendors are signaling continued focus on the category.“

“Q3 brought further pressure to the Chromebook market as education demand saturation continued to take its toll,“ said Canalys Research Analyst Brian Lynch. “Since the education market first showed signs of saturation in 3Q21, vendors have struggled to find growth opportunities in other segments while managing high inventory levels. A fall in Chromebook demand was expected in the second half of 2021 but the extent of the decline has been worsened by economic headwinds, limiting education budgets and stemming any momentum among consumers and businesses.“

Acer has found the most success in the post-saturation market, taking first place in Q3 with more than a million units shipped, posting 11% growth and capturing over a quarter of overall shipments. HP secured second place in the Chromebook rankings after suffering heavier declines than other vendors in recent quarters. It saw shipments fall 27% to 800,000 units in the latest quarter. Lenovo experienced the steepest decline of all the major vendors with a 50% drop as it struggled with high inventory levels and shifts its education portfolio to include more Windows devices. Dell, which had less focus on the Chromebook market throughout the pandemic, experienced a modest decline in shipments of 11%. Asus took fifth place in the market with a 9.6% market share.

In the total PC market (desktops, notebooks, and tablets), Apple topped the table with 23.4 million units shipped worldwide, grabbing a 22% market share as the only major vendor to post year-on-year growth in Q3. With 19.4 million units shipped and an 18% market share, Lenovo came in second, posting a 21% year-on-year decline. HP finished third, with a 28% drop in shipments to 12.7 million units and a two-percentage-point market share loss compared with Q3 2021. Fourth-placed Dell shipped 12 million units, undergoing a 21% decline, while fifth-placed Samsung posted shipments of 7.3 million units and a more modest decline of 13%.