India Tablet Sales Declined 16 Percent in March Quarter: CMR

Sales of tablet PCs fell by 16 percent year-on-year to around 7.6 lakh units during January-March, hurt by lack of any promotional activity by device makers, says a report.

The tablet shipments in the March quarter were also down by 6 percent compared to the previous October-December quarter, the report by research firm CMR said.

Datawind continued to hold the top spot with 34 percent market share, followed iBall with 16 percent share, the report said. Samsung had 15 percent share while homegrown Micromax had 8 percent share.

"The continuous decline in the tablet space could be attributed to the lack of promotional activities in the space.

Aadhaar has, of course, provided a lot of impetus to the market (as it increases orders from government sector)," CMR Lead-Analyst (Tablets) Menka Kumari said.

However, at the same time, B2C consumption entirely depends on the promotional activities and some exciting features, she added.

CMR said upcoming GST regime is also going to affect the tablet market, but the magnitude can be gauged only later as a lot of clarity is expected to come on the implementation front.

4G tablets segment will constitute 50 percent of the market by the end of this year, the report added.

According to CMR's "India Quarterly Tablet PC Market Review-1Q 2017" report, Android-based tablets have already captured the majority of the market while Windows-based tablets have seen continuous decline in India.

"The smartphone market has moved towards 4G and the tablets segment would also follow the same trend. The demand for SIM-enabled devices will continue to grow while Wi-Fi enabled devices will continue to see demand from the student community," said Menka Kumari, Lead Analyst, Tablets, CMR, in a statement.

4G and 3G-based tablets witnessed sequential increase of 15 percent and 31 percent in terms of units shipped.

Alternatively, 2G and Wi-Fi based tablets saw a sharp decline of 62 percent and 33 percent, respectively, as compared to the previous quarter, the findings showed.

The tablet market within the price category of Rs. 10,000-Rs. 20,000 and less than Rs. 5,000 witnessed 48 percent and four percent sequential growth, respectively, during the quarter.

On the other hand, the price category of Rs. 20,000-30,000 saw a sharp 61 percent sequential decline, the report added.

Written with inputs from PTI and IANS