Apple’s iPad moves up to third place in India’s table market

India’s tablet market recorded 14.7% year-over-year [YoY] growth with shipments totaling 2.8 million units in 2020, according to IDC. Apple replaced iBall — India’s premier home-grown tech accessory brand — for the third position as it witnessed a 13% YoY growth in its shipments.

The iPad might have done even better, but Apple struggled with stock availability throughout the year. However, with the company’s new launches, the tech giant was able to gain the crucial segment share in the second half of the year.

2020 was a year of tablet growth after declining for four consecutive years, mainly aided by the increased utility of tablets to support e-learning demand, according to IDC. Consumer shipments reported 59.8% growth over 2019. However, commercial shipments declined by 14.3% YoY as few government projects were postponed to 2021.

IDC says the demand remains centralized to the budget segment with US$100<$200 contributing to more than half of total tablet shipments in India. Still, the market above $300 also witnessed an “impressive growth of 72.3%,” adds the research group.

Lenovo maintained its lead in the Indian tablet market as it observed a 6.6% growth in its shipments over 2019. Lenovo also reported its biggest consumer year with 153% YoY growth in 2020. However, it witnessed a 15.1% decline in its commercial segment.

IDC says Samsung was the top gainer, as their strong control on component supplies helped them to gain a 13-percentage point jump in their market share. Also, the company managed to remain at the top spot in the consumer segment with shipments growing 157% over 2019.

iBall dropped to the fourth spot as it saw a 69.9% decline in its shipments from the previous year. The vendor mainly struggled in managing the supplies during the pandemic that forced the vendor to have negative growth in both segments, according to IDC.

China-based Huawei ranked fifth for the full year of 2020 as shipments tripled from the previous year.