4G tablet market grows 62% in India: Report

New Delhi: The shipment of 4G tablets grew 62 per cent in India in the first quarter of 2019 which was led by Lenovo, a new report said on Wednesday. According to CyberMedia Research's (CMR) "Tablet PC Market Report Review for 1Q CY2019", there was a 28 per cent sequential increase in tablet shipments in the Rs 10,000-Rs 20,000 price segment.

Lenovo with 26 per cent led the market, followed by Samsung at 17 per cent and iBall also at 17 per cent. Apple was fourth with 9 per cent market share."Lenovo covers 90 per cent market in 4G tablet. In the coming quarters, the market share for Samsung is potentially going to decline as there are no new launches of tablets slated from their end," said Menka Kumari, an analyst with IIG-CMR.

The overall tablet market saw a 11 per cent decline in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter last year."The onset of foldable smartphones is also likely to potentially challenge the future of tablet market. While Samsung faced some initial hiccups with its Galaxy Fold, there are others such as Huawei and Motorola waiting in the wings with their foldable innovations," added Kumari.

Smartphones, as well as the ultrabooks are also eating up the tablet market. "Tablets fits somewhere inbetween the ultrabooks and smartphones. While increased size of screen and affordability of smartphone are primarily the main reasons behind the decline of tablet market, Ultrabooks with better processors and RAM, are also posing stiff competition to tablets,' said Kanika Jain, manager, New Initiatives, CMR.