Tablet shipments jump 46% in Q3 as Gujarat’s NAMO scheme boosts sales

NEW DELHI: The tablet market saw strong sequential growth in the third quarter of 2017, helped by one-off events like the Gujarat government’s NAMO tablet scheme for college students. However, analysts say the rate is unlikely to be sustained amid a dip in consumer demand.

According to IDC, India shipped 1.1 million tablets in the third quarter of 2017, up 46% from the previous quarter and 3% growth from the same period last year.

CyberMedia Research (CMR) had pegged third quarter tablet shipment growth at 38% on-quarter.

But this growth is unlikely to be sustained, say analysts. “Right now everything is directly proportional to what Reliance Jio does and we don’t see any push coming from Jio in the tablets segment in the near future. Also, we don’t see any new or unique opportunities coming for tablets, unless the government comes up with more tablet-driven schemes,” said Faisal Kawoosa, lead analyst, CMR.

Analysts say tablets have been unable to spike consumer interest even after six years of introduction in the market.

“This is one of the slowest uptake among consumer electronic products which have evolved in the era of Internet of Things and 4G. Additionally, in enterprise segment tablets could only reach certain verticals like education, BFSI etc, but came with much longer replacement cycle,” said Tarun Pathak, associate director (mobile devices and ecosystems), Counterpoint Research.

As per Counterpoint’s estimates, tablet shipments are likely to cross 3.5 million units in 2017, growing 2% year-on-year.