Global tablet market slumps in Q3 2016: IDC

According to the research firm IDC, global tablet market continued its slump as vendors shipped 43 million units in the third quarter of 2016, a year-on-year(YoY) decline of 14.7%.

Shipment was up at 9.8% over the second quarter of 2016 as the bigger vendors prepared for the holiday quarter, IDC said in its data report.

Low-cost (sub-$200) detachables also reached an all-time high as vendors flooded the market.

"Unfortunately, many low-cost detachables also deliver a low-cost experience. The race to the bottom is something we have already experienced with slates and it may prove detrimental to the market in the long run as detachables could easily be seen as disposable devices rather than potential PC replacements," IDC Senior Research Analyst, Jitesh Ubrani said.

Apple led the shipment market of 9.3 million units and 21.5% share in the July-September quarter. Samsung and Amazon followed in the tally with shipments of 6.5 million units (15.1% share) and 3.1 million units (7.3% share), respectively.

Lenovo stood fourth with 2.7 million units and Huawei ranked fifth in the list with 2.4 million units.

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy.