WFH Trends Spurred Tablets to 44% Q1 Unit Growth: SA

Pandemic trends are stressing tablet supplies, said Strategy Analytics Thursday. There was a 44% year-on-year shipment spurt to 45.8 million units vs. Q1 2020. The top four global vendors had double-digit increases, led by Apple (16.8 million units), Samsung (8.3 million), Amazon (3.8 million) and Lenovo (3.8 million); No. 5 Huawei had a 33% drop to 2 million. A focus on productivity is part of most tablet vendor strategies, said the researcher. Even as laptop demand stays hot, Windows detachables from Microsoft, Lenovo, HP and Dell “are showing growth once again,” said analyst Chirag Upadhyay, citing use for entertainment, games and communication. Analyst Eric Smith said tablet strength should continue based on work-from-home trends “as people look beyond COVID restrictions.”