Apple, Lenovo Maintain Lead in Tablets and Chromebook Segments in Q3 2021; Shipments Decline: Canalys

Chromebooks and tablet shipments saw a decline in growth in third quarter of 2021, new Canalys data suggests. The report reveals that tablet shipments fell 15 percent year on ear to 37.7 million units, whereas Chromebook shipments were down 37 percent and reached 5.8 million units in Q3. The overall PC shipments worldwide, Canalys says, also fell by 2 percent year on year to 122.1 million units. The decline is attributed to the fall in demand for these products as digital education programs see a slowdown. Chromebooks fell back to the pre-pandemic levels of a 9 percent share of all notebook shipments as major education markets reached saturation, the Canalys data reveals.

The latest report from research firm Canalys highlights the tablet, Chromebook, and overall PC shipments worldwide in Q3 2021. In the tablet segment, Apple maintained its lead with 15.2 million shipments in the third quarter raking in 40.4 percent of the market share. Samsung came in second despite a 20 percent decline, Canalys reports, shipping 7.2 million units in the third quarter. Lenovo, which maintained its momentum, was the only vendor in the top five to see modest growth, with 4.2 million units shipped, up 2 percent year on year. Amazon and Huawei made up the rest of the top five, with significant falls reported at 45 percent and 51 percent respectively.

Canalys says that Chromebook vendors have struggled in Q3, as the overall market shipments reduced. Lenovo secured the first place with 1.4 million units shipped and a gain of 24.6 percent market share. Even with the lead, Lenovo Chromebooks saw a decline of 20.9 percent in annual growth. HP saw a significant decline of 66.1 percent annually in Q3 2021, with shipments reaching only 1.09 million. It is reported to have a market share of 19 percent. Acer, Dell and Asus made up the remainder of the top five.

Canalys Research Analyst Brian Lynch adds, “Chrome's focus on the education market meant it was bound to slow down at some point. Governments, education institutions and households have invested heavily in Chromebooks for more than a year, and with so many students equipped with devices and schools returning to in-class learning, shipment volumes have fallen accordingly. Still, Chrome has massively expanded its user base over the past year and a half and will have far more refresh opportunity due to that growth. Google has also made a significant investment in the enterprise market this year as it attempts to broaden its horizons beyond its secure position in the education space. While this domain presents a much harder challenge for Chrome, it will be able to lean on its economy, security and ease of management to carve out a niche.”

As mentioned, Canalys says that the worldwide PC shipments also saw a decline of 2 percent year over year. Lenovo reportedly maintained its lead with a market share increase of over 1 percent as it hit 24.4 million units shipped. Apple remained in second place with modest growth of 5 percent for total shipments of 23 million units. HP felt the impact of supply constraints, with a 6 percent decline in annual shipments. In fourth place, Dell saw a stellar 27 percent increase in shipments and a nearly 3 percent increase in market share. Samsung rounded off the top five with reported 8.3 million units shipped and 6.9 percent market share.