Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) remained the world’s No. 1 manufacturer of tablet computers in the fourth quarter of last year, US-based market intelligence provider International Data Corp (IDC) said.
Hon Hai accounted for 25 percent of total slate tablet shipments and 43 percent of total detachable tablet shipments in the fourth quarter of last year, IDC said on Thursday last week.
In the slate tablet segment, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co came second, shipping 17 percent of the total, ahead of China’s Huaqin Telecom Technology Co (華勤) at 7 percent and Chinese telecommunications supplier Huawei Technologies Co (華為) at 5 percent, IDC said.
Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturer Pegatron Corp (和碩) was second on the detachable tablet shipment list, with a 19 percent share, followed by Hong Kong’s Alco Holdings Ltd (愛高) and Samsung, both at 9 percent, IDC said.
Samsung and Huawei are in-house tablet manufacturers, while the other companies are contract tablet manufacturers, IDC added.
Global tablet demand remained robust in the fourth quarter, on the back of upgrades to operating systems and as brands marked down product prices, IDC senior research manager Annabelle Hsu (徐美雯) said.
Peak season effects in the quarter also drove global tablet shipments 4.5 percent higher than the third quarter, Hsu said.
However, tablet shipments for the first quarter of the year are expected to have been lower, as the segment entered its slow season, IDC said, adding that demand for tablets could also be affected by the rising popularity of large-screen smartphones.
To attract buyers, high-end tablet suppliers are expected to upgrade product specifications to compete with smartphones, while low-end tablet vendors are expected to continue looking for ways to cut production costs and lower product prices to increase market share, IDC said.
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