The tablet market in Western Europe continued to experience a strong performance in the third quarter of 2020, as shipments grew 15,6% year over year to 8,2-million units, according to data from International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.
Detachable tablets — a tablet with a keyboard attached — grew 170,5% year on year to represent 40,1% of total shipments in Q3 2020, while slate tablets declined 16,5% year over year. Content creation continues to drive tablet adoption and replacement cycles, with education being a major driver of growth in the segment.
Total shipments to the education segment increased 89.1% year on year in Western Europe, making it the fastest growing segment in the region.
“Tablets are becoming important learning tools for students in Western Europe,” says Francisco Jeronimo, associate vice-president at IDC EMEA. “Across every country in the region a growing number of schools are introducing tablets in the classroom, as digital books and learning applications are becoming part of most curriculums. These large education tenders are impacting the tablet market performance and growth.”
The surge of tablets in education has been particularly beneficial for Apple, as it helped the company to increase its market share in the region. Apple dominates the education segment with 64% market share.
Samsung, Lenovo, and Huawei also excelled in the consumer segment, with mid- to low-end products targeting a segment of users that needs a tablet for content consumption (mainly entertainment) more than content creation.