Tablets get massive boost from remote working

As 2020 dragged on, tablet vendors delivered options to support learning and working from home, according to Strategy Analytics’ latest report. For users working within a tight budget, tablets proved to be credible mobile computing alternatives to notebooks, as mobile computing demand showed double-digit year-on-year growth in 2020.

“The new normal will start to emerge in 2021 as pandemic restrictions slowly fade away, but we fully expect work-from-home and learn-from-home will have won over fans among workers, students, companies, and educational institutions alike,” says Eric Smith, director at Connected Computing. “How tablet vendors choose to address this urgent need for mobile productivity will depend on their unique set of strengths and weaknesses, but it is clear that they must fight even harder for revenue in this competitive environment. Risk remains for tablets to be outflanked by notebooks or smartphones in the future.”

Chirag Upadhyay, industry analyst, says: “Apple had a great holiday quarter with shipments up 37% year-on-year, fulfilling consumer, commercial, and education demand. Several major Android vendors did as well or even better on an annual growth basis as Android tablets have a cost advantage over iPad. Amazon has great value at low cost and typically does very well during the holidays. Samsung and Lenovo had a very strong quarter of performance as their portfolios are wide-ranging, up-to-date, and innovative for entertainment and productivity needs.”

Click here to access the full report.