The first quarter of 2020 presented enormous challenges as the COVID-19 outbreak hampered the supply chain in China as well as domestic consumer demand there.

Despite some very dire predictions in the beginning of the pandemic, the tablet market actually outpaced expectations and were in line with Strategy Analytics’ outlook, shrinking by only -12% year-on-year in Q1 2020. The question now becomes, what will the worldwide pandemic and steep decline in economic activity bode for tablet vendors in Q2 and beyond?

Eric Smith, Director – Connected Computing said, “There were some real standout results from the largest tablet vendors in the world. Lenovo marked its third straight quarter of tablet shipment growth at 2%. Apple growth was down -3% and Samsung growth was down -2%. What’s remarkable about these otherwise meager results is that they were achieved in a market that declined by -12% overall. Other vendors fared worse as they faced serious headwinds in China, like Huawei, or pressure to match fantastic growth rates from last year, like Amazon.”

Chirag Upadhyay, Senior Research Analyst added, “Overall, there will be intense pressure on consumers in Q2 2020 as economic activity is stunted by the worldwide response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is evidence, however, that work/learn-from-home needs will benefit some vendors like Apple and Lenovo as large corporations and educational institutions seek to keep people productive while on quarantine.”