Australian tablet sales fell 2.1% in 2H18

Australian tablet shipments fell 2.1% year-on-year in the second half of last year to 1.6 million units, according to research from Telsyte.

The Australian technology analyst company contributed the decline to an ongoing slump in Android tablet sales, as well as slowing growth in the 2-in-1 segment as the market matures.

The iPad remained the market leader in terms of tablet sales, with iOS accounting for just under half (49.6%) of shipments during the quarter. This represented a 5.1% growth from a year earlier.

Microsoft’s Windows (29.9%) captured second place as a result of its dominance in the 2-in-1 category. Telsyte estimates that of the 3.5 million Australians using a 2-in-1 device, more than 70% are Windows based. Windows’ share of the tablet market grew 2.1% year-on-year.

But Android-based tablet sales shrank 21%, with the OS declining to account for 19.3% of the total market. Chrome OS captured the remaining 1.2%.

Meanwhile, Apple, Samsung and Microsoft accounted for more than 75% of total tablet sales during the six-month period.

Telsyte expects the tablet market to continue to be constrained due to elongated replacement cycles and the high level of maturity of the segment. But this could be mitigated by the arrival of 5G, which could spur further interest in cellular-enabled tablets.

Tablet makers could also find growth by catering for demand for interactive gaming, education and converged tablet and smart speaker applications.