The International Data Corporation (IDC) has forecast a nearly six percent dip in year-over-year tablet shipments for 2016, but said the figures will rebound in the years to come thanks to demand for detachable devices.
According to the report, worldwide tablet shipments will only hit around 195 million units this year. However, the IDC said growing demand for detachable devices will drive the tablet market back into single digit growth as detachable shipments rise from 16.6 million units in 2015 to 63.8 million in 2020.
IDC said the Microsoft platform will be the operating system to reap the most reward from this growth. Though Windows is predicted to snag more than half (53.3 percent) of the detachable tablet market share this year, that figure is expected to grow to nearly three-quarters (74.6 percent) by 2020.
“This momentous shift in form factor will bring along the first significant impact of Windows-based devices that the tablet market has seen,” said Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers.
“Windows 10 seems to be making headway in both the PC and tablet markets, mainly driven by devices with larger screen sizes,” Reith continued. “Until we see a day where touch is introduced for Mac OS X and inroads are paved to bring Android and Chrome more closely aligned, we believe Windows remains the logical choice for detachable products.”
According to IDC estimates, Windows’ additional market share will come almost entirely out of Apple’s pocket, as the iOS platform is expected to drop from 28.5 percent of the market share in 2016 to just 7.3 percent in 2020.
The Android platform market share is expected to remain flat at just over 18 percent.