The tablet market in India experienced several ups and downs in 2023, but by the end of the year, Samsung emerged as the top-selling tablet brand in the country, new data from IDC (via Times of India) shows.
Even though Samsung's tablet business suffered from a 34.7% year-on-year decline in India, the company was reportedly the leading brand across both the consumer and the commercial segments. It held 33.4% of the consumer tablet segment and 46.6% of the commercial sector.
Interestingly, the consumer tablet segment, as a whole, grew by 1.9% in India, but the commercial segment declined by 42.4% because several government deals fell through.
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Last year, Samsung released tablets including the Galaxy Tab S9, Tab S9+, and Tab S9 Ultra. But the company also announced brand-new Fan Edition tablets and a new Galaxy A9 series.
Apple was the 3rd biggest tablet vendor in India
Although Apple is the leading tablet vendor globally, in India, the company's high prices for iPads prevented it from capturing the top spot. Data from IDC shows that Apple was the third-largest tablet vendor by market share after Samsung and Lenovo. Apple secured 13.9% of the market, and Lenovo held 14.3%.
Another interesting distinction for the Indian market is that tablets with a hybrid/detachable design have enjoyed a 17.7% boost in sales year-on-year, whereas standard slates have declined by 33.3% in 2023 compared to the previous year.
The recent report cites the Associate Vice President of IDC saying that the tablet market in India will face new challenges in 2024 as projects backed by governments become more limited in the first half of the year due to the elections code of conduct.
In addition, entry-level notebooks and Chromebooks might also eat away at the tablet market in India in 2024. These devices approach the market with aggressive pricing and features like built-in keyboards, which appeal to the educational sector. They sometimes often bigger or wider screens.
As of this writing, Samsung doesn't have any Chromebooks on sale in India, but the company has just released the more powerful and pricier Galaxy Book 4 laptop series, which is enabled by Intel chips and Windows 11.
