2021 has completely become history. From the current point of view, it can be said that the development of the tablet computer market in 2021 exceeded everyone's expectations. No one expected that the tablet computer market, once praised as bad, would break out again.
According to the latest data, as of Q3 in 2021, affected by the epidemic, the scale of the global tablet computer market has decreased year-on-year, but the Chinese market is still growing steadily. IDC said that in 2021, China's tablet computer market will create the largest year-on-year growth since 2013. It is expected to increase by 22.4% in the whole year, and the overall shipment volume is about 28.6 million units.
Although the market data of the fourth quarter has not been released yet, it can be seen from the data of the first three quarters alone that the tablet market as a whole is in an upward trend in 2021. Two years ago, few people would have guessed that the tablet market would take on such a situation.
Of course, this is related to the stimulation of the epidemic. The epidemic has spawned mobile office and online classes. At this time, the tablet computer, which is larger than the mobile screen and smaller in weight and volume than the traditional notebook, has naturally become the first choice for consumers. It not only has inherent advantages in the mobile scene, but also with the popularity of paperless learning and office, tablet sales are out of control.
With this wave, many manufacturers who have withdrawn or selectively forgotten tablet computers have sprung up. Manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Lenovo, Huawei, apple and glory continue to push through the old and bring forth the new, which has also injected new vitality into this market that was once not favored by everyone.
Generally speaking, the year 2021 of tablet computers is quite passionate and dynamic. Both old manufacturers continue to make efforts and new blood is injected. Of course, the arrival of these manufacturers has naturally brought the tablet computer market into a new era.
The iPad is still the king, but the decline has shown
Since the birth of Apple's first commercial tablet computer iPad in 2010, it has proved that it is a product with the attribute of "extension and supplement". At that time, Apple's positioning for the tablet computer was: the derivation of the mobile scene of Apple mobile phone, another touch end of Apple software ecological chain, and the continuation of some application functions of apple computer. It is the "ecological chain" and "application scenario" that have written a footnote to the bad start of Android tablets. Since its birth, Apple iPad series products have always been the best benchmark in the hearts of consumers.
Different from the other manufacturers, apple still maintained normal iteration in the most "severe" period of the entire tablet computer market, coupled with Apple's unique understanding and perfect ecology of tablet computers, making the iPad still at the top level in the first half of 2021. According to the data of counterpoint, iPad shipments accounted for 37% of the whole market in Q1 2021, an increase of nearly 7% compared with 2020.
Interestingly, counterpoint also said that the main force of iPad sales is not the iPad pro with the highest positioning, but the entry-level iPad 8, with sales accounting for 56%. The iPad air 4 and iPad pro with higher positioning account for 19% and 18% respectively, and the sales volume of ipad Mini is the bottom.
From the data released by counterpoint, we can find a detail. Although the competitiveness of iPad Pro is still strong in the high-end market, most consumers can only accept the entry-level iPad priced at two or three thousand yuan, which is what most Android manufacturers are good at. As long as they can come up with products with good cost performance, It is bound to take back part of the cake from the apple.
Indeed, according to canalys, in Q2 of 2021, iPad shipments were 12.9 million units, with a year-on-year increase of 3.5% and a market share of 31.9%. Lenovo achieved a year-on-year increase of 64.5% with its highly cost-effective small new pad series, and its market share also increased to 11.6%, while manufacturers such as Samsung and Amazon are also in an upward trend. The only decline in the top five is Huawei, with a year-on-year decline of 53.7% and a market share of 5.1%.
In Q3 in 2021, due to the reduced demand for tablets in most regions, the global Tablet PC shipment in Q3 in 2021 decreased by 14.5% year-on-year to 37.7 million units. Apple's performance in this quarter was in line and did not rise or fall, while Lenovo was still in an upward trend. Although the increase was only 2%, it was also the only manufacturer in the top five to grow.
From these data, it is not difficult to see that the status of iPad can be shaken. As long as Android manufacturers are willing to make efforts, they can naturally attract many users using Android phones. This can be confirmed according to the data compiled by guanyantianxia. The data show that consumers prefer IOS or Android operating system, accounting for more than 80%, of which nearly 70% of Android preferred users are also mobile phone holders of Android system, accounting for nearly 70%, indicating that the user loyalty of Android system is high. As long as there are Android tablets worth buying in the market, they will give priority to them.
Generally speaking, although the performance of iPad is still excellent, with the rise of other manufacturers, the market share and shipment volume of iPad will decline, which is also related to the product power of iPad itself. Compared with Android Tablet at the same price, the entry-level iPad no longer has too many advantages. The outdated design and average performance processor make many users choose to switch to the embrace of Android Tablet.
However, for Android manufacturers, if they want to further swallow the market share of iPad, they must make efforts to locate more high-end products, but it is still difficult in a short time.
Why is the tablet market so busy?
It is an objective fact that the tablet computer market has recovered again. In addition to the promotion of the epidemic, which has increased the demand for home office and entertainment, there is another reason - domestic mobile phone manufacturers have entered the stage of ecological competition.
In recent years, the market capacity of smart phones has been close to the ceiling, and the competition among mobile phone manufacturers is becoming more and more fierce. In order to obtain more market share and improve user stickiness, manufacturers are strengthening the ecological construction of the whole family bucket. As we all know, Apple's user loyalty is relatively high, and a very important reason is that an efficient and collaborative software and hardware ecosystem has been formed among various apple devices.
On the other hand, the gradual saturation of the smartphone market also drives manufacturers to find new tracks, and the "IOT, mobile phone" strategy has become the main work direction of many mobile phone manufacturers in the future. Compared with smart phones, tablet computers, smart TVs and car phones have larger screen sizes and higher information display efficiency. They may become an important entrance to IOT's interconnected ecology in the future. Therefore, it has become an industry trend for mobile phone manufacturers to add flat panel, TV and PC product lines.
Although the introduction of large screen products has evolved into an industry trend, it is still difficult for domestic tablet computers to enter the high-end market. Apple can occupy the high-end market with its rich tablet software ecology and Xiaoao's self-developed M1 chip, but Android Tablet does not have this advantage.
Huawei was once an exception. With the two functions of "multi screen collaboration" and "parallel horizon", Huawei has improved the user experience of Android Tablet to a new level, and thus stabilized the high-end market. With the launch of harmonyos, the ecological advantages established by Huawei tablet computer are further expanded, and the linkage between Huawei matepad and other devices is more close and efficient. At the same time, some high-quality applications are gradually expanding the software ecology of Huawei tablet and improving its practicability.
From the example of Huawei, it is not impossible for domestic manufacturers to impact the high-end market, but they need to create the unique advantage of "no one has me" from the needs of users. Therefore, Xiaolei hopes that the scuffle of domestic tablet computers can bring more innovative experiences to users, rather than continue to indulge in parameter competition.
Student market becomes a new outlet
On July 23, 2021, the double reduction document for off campus teaching and training and online education industry was officially launched. The double reduction document points out that in the stage of compulsory education, all localities will no longer approve new discipline education and training institutions. At the same time, the approved institutions will be transformed into non-profit institutions, the online institutions will be transformed from the filing system to the approval system, and the registered institutions will be re approved according to the standards.
With the implementation of this document, the domestic tablet computer market has ushered in a new wave. The once insignificant student tablet computer market has now become a pastry in the eyes of many enterprises.
According to the report of IDC, a market research organization, the shipment volume of Chinese student tablet computer market in 2021q3 is about 1.31 million, with a year-on-year increase of 6.9% and a month on month increase of 147%. This is also the first time that the domestic student tablet computer market has successfully hit the bottom since it fell year-on-year for four consecutive quarters in the second half of last year. In 2021, the shipment volume of China's student tablet computer market was 3.42 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 6.3%; It is estimated that the shipment volume of Chinese student tablet computer market will increase in 2022 and 2023, which is expected to reach 3.56 million and 3.82 million respectively.
This is accompanied by the massive demand of students for educational equipment. In the past, the educational tablet market focusing on built-in educational resources was very popular, and the shipment volume achieved a year-on-year increase of 29.9% in the second quarter of 2020. However, it is not difficult to find that with the growth of demand, the performance of traditional educational tablets is not good. On the contrary, most of the share is taken away by mobile phone manufacturers such as apple and Huawei.
In fact, the reason is also very simple. Compared with ordinary tablets, the advantage of educational tablets is the built-in rich learning resources, which makes up for the lack of Internet learning resources in the past. But its disadvantages are also obvious. First, the price is relatively high. The price of flagship education tablets is basically more than 3000 yuan, and even the price has exceeded 7000 yuan. Even the price of entry-level products is around 2000 yuan. Second, the configuration is backward. Many flagship education tablets at the same price as ordinary tablets are even using Qualcomm Xiaolong 821 processor four years ago, The running speed is difficult to ensure complete smoothness.
In this regard, the advantages of mobile phone manufacturers are reflected. The high cost performance makes them have a certain voice in the special market. Therefore, in the third quarter, ordinary tablet manufacturers represented by Huawei began to implant educational resources such as education centers into their products. At the same time, they were also equipped with stricter parental control and other functions to facilitate parents to limit the content and use time that children can access. In this quarter, the sales of ordinary tablets with educational resources accounted for 28% of the total sales of ordinary tablets.
The performance of Huawei, Lenovo and other manufacturers also let other manufacturers see the potential of the education hardware market. Therefore, in the second half of 2021, Baidu and other Internet enterprises also announced the launch of all kinds of education hardware, hoping to get a share of it. However, at present, these new manufacturers still shake the position of old educational hardware manufacturers in a short time. After all, they have occupied most of the market in the commercial market and smart classroom. Coupled with the long-term brand publicity and channel construction, consumers will trust these "old brand leaders" more.
It can be predicted that in 2022, Huawei, Xiaomi, glory and other manufacturers will continue to enter the education tablet Market and continue their most familiar "cost-effective" playing method. Therefore, for traditional education hardware manufacturers, they may need to consider how to maintain their share of the cake. In any case, the competition between manufacturers must ultimately benefit our consumers.
What will happen to the tablet Market in 2022?
Many new changes have taken place in the tablet Market in 2021. There are dark horses in the industry, new development directions and the return of some new and old brands have also added a lot of highlights to the tablet Market in the new year. However, in Xiao Lei's view, the competition in the tablet computer market in 2022 will be more intense.
The screen is bigger and more like a laptop
Most tablets on the market today are between 10 inches and 12 inches in size, but Samsung and Apple will launch 14.6 and 16 inch "oversized" tablets, according to relevant revelations. Obviously, such a large body size is obviously not prepared for ordinary consumers or students, but is likely to be more biased towards productivity tools in the professional field.
However, under the existing technical conditions, too large screen and too heavy fuselage will seriously affect the portability of tablet computers. In addition to screen size, the share of mini led and OLED screens is expected to increase. The share of mini LED is expected to reach about 5% in 2022. In 2022, the share of OLED products will rise to about 8%. In the future, more medium and low-end products will use OLED screens, but the large-scale application of tablet computers is expected to be realized only after the popularity of PC.
In addition, there is another qualitative improvement in the tablet computer market in 2021, that is, the stylus technology, whether Huawei or glory, has promoted the delay and intelligent practicability of the stylus to a new dimension. Even Xiaomi, who has just touched the stylus, has basically reached the usable level.
The continuous updating and iteration of intelligent stylus technology and external keyboard also proves that more and more manufacturers want users to regard tablet computers as a truly available productivity tool, not just for watching videos or playing games. In 2022, this point will be further amplified by manufacturers. Perhaps Apple's slogan "your next computer, why a computer" in earlier years will really be realized in the near future.
The era of full internal examination has come
With the booming of the tablet market this year, Xiaomi, which had previously abandoned the tablet market, came back first, while vivo and oppo tablets are already on the road, and it is estimated that they will be released early next year. On the one hand, due to the explosion of sales, new players also want to squeeze in and take a share.
On the other hand, because the current mobile phone market is a red sea, building a complete IOT ecosystem is a new growth point for mainstream mobile phone manufacturers. As an intelligent terminal with high utilization and popularity, tablet computer will be one of the main entrances to IOT's interconnected ecology and an essential part of building product ecology. Even if the products launched by manufacturers are not powerful, it is also a moat of their own ecology and an important defense.
Tablet computers have been developed for more than ten years. From rise to decline, and then to rise, they have experienced ups and downs for several times, just like life, like a reincarnation. For a long time in the past, this device with less portability than mobile phone, less screen than TV and less performance than computer has been ignored by consumers and brands because it failed to find its own positioning. Before locating the tablet, the tablet has been sandwiched between mobile phones, computers and TVs, and there is no breakthrough of its own.
However, with the decentralization of hardware development, the vigorous development of 5g technology and the increasing demand of the education market, this product once considered by the market as some chicken ribs will shine again. Whether the brand can grasp its second opportunity, I believe that next year's tablet computer market will bring us the answer.
This article is from WeChat official account ID:feng_keji, the author: Feng Kun, 36 krypton.
