Hybrid work and more digitized classrooms continue to drive record tablet demand midway through 2021, according to a new report by Strategy Analytics. Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and Amazon all posted strong results However, supply constraints negatively affected some major vendors from meeting high demand slightly earlier than expected, raising questions about what the second half of the year will bring. As the COVID pandemic remains a key concern around the world, this tension between high demand and low component supply will test vendors and their channel partners as both Back to School and winter holiday shopping looms.

“Tablet shipments were essentially flat in Q2 2021 at 45.2 million units compared to Q1 2021 as supply constraints started hitting the tablet market faster than anticipated. Hybrid working and virtual learning options continue to fuel high demand for mobile computing devices, but vendors are expected to face increasing supply shortages for the rest of 2021. If higher component and transportation costs make their way into tablet price tags as expected, the competitive environment for mobile computing devices will be intense,” said Eric Smith, Director of Connected Computing at Strategy Analytics.

“The Android tablet market is undergoing big changes as vendors retool their portfolios for more productivity solutions for the hybrid work and digital learning era. Samsung leads the segment with its Galaxy Tab S7 including premium features like 5G connectivity, while Lenovo recently released its Tab P11 device at a lower price point than most detachables on the market. Even Amazon is addressing this massive need with its newest Fire HD 10 Productivity Bundle, which includes Office 365 access,” added Chirag Upadhyay, Industry Analyst at Strategy Analytics.

Apple iOS/iPadOS shipments grew 11% year-on-year to 15.8 million units in 2Q21, with worldwide market share climbing 1.8 percentage points to 35%. Samsung is the leading Android vendor, shipping 8.2 million tablets in total and growing 19% on a diverse portfolio of entertainment tablets and productivity detachables. Market share increased by 2.1 percentage points to 18% during the same period.

Lenovo tablet shipments once again showed the strongest year-on-year growth out of the top vendors at 67% to reach 4.7 million units as the vendor picks up market share from Huawei outside of China. Market share climbed 3.8 percentage points year-on-year to 10%. Amazon had a strong quarter with tablet shipments growing 49% to 4.2 million units. During this period, market share grew 2.7 percentage point to reach 9%. Huawei tablet shipments fell 57% to 2.1 million units. Market share fell 6.7 percentage points to 5% compared to 2Q20 as the US chipset ban is hampering Huawei's ability to produce and sell high-quality tablets in the ultra-competitive Android market.