Asia Pacific Tablet Market Records 12.9% Growth in 2021 Driven by Pandemic Demand: IDC

SINGAPORE – The tablet market in the Asia/Pacific (including Japan and China) region posted a 12.9% year-over-year (YoY) increase in 2021, reaching 56.4M units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Quarterly Personal Computing Devices Tracker, Q4 2021. Tablet shipments are expected to grow by 1.5% in 2022 as supply improves and robust demand continues.

Consumer shipments grew by 20.7% YoY in 2021, totaling 43.0M units. “Many countries in the region had gone through different levels of lockdowns throughout 2021. With the e-learning, home entertainment and working-from-home needs triggered by the pandemic, the demand for tablets continued. The tablet penetration rate has been increasing as there are more first-time purchasers. However, supply has been a concern for many tablet vendors, which hindered further growth of the tablet market,” says Jennifer Kwan, Senior Market Analyst for Client Devices Research at IDC Asia/Pacific.

The commercial market increased by 6.5% YoY in 2021. The private sector expanded with use cases in areas like food delivery services. The education segment declined, but shipments were still largely above pre-pandemic levels, supported by sizable education projects in Japan, India, Korea, and the Philippines.

Several newcomers entered the Android tablet market in 2021, including Xiaomi and realme who launched new tablet models in 2021Q3, as well as Nokia and Motorola in 2021Q4. And more new vendors should launch tablets in 2022, including OPPO and vivo. “It’s interesting to see more smartphone vendors stepping into the tablet market. It helps ease the supply challenges and provide more product variety. We can expect the competition in the Android market to be fierce in 2022,” says Kwan.

The tablet market in Asia/Pacific will reach 57.2M units in 2022, with pandemic-driven purchases driving consumer demand in the first half. The supply side is also expected to improve in the region, benefiting from the entry of new vendors and the improved supply situation of other major vendors. Government initiatives to support hybrid learning models for students will continue to create opportunities in the education sector; several education projects in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam are expected to deploy in 2022.