Rise in Tablet Demand in 2021

Demand for tablets or entry-level notebooks to fulfil remote learning needs of children, who until now borrowed their parents' laptops or smartphones, has started rising as sales of non-essentials have resumed with easing of the lockdown curbs.

Lenovo, the leading tablet brand in India, has seen a surge in demand for such devices with the government relaxing the lockdown restrictions imposed to contain the spread of covid-19.

“Since the demand is more for learning, there is a slight shift towards the 7-inch category. However, the largest selling segment has been 10-inch tablets in the price range of ₹10,000 - ₹15,000," said Pankaj Harjai, director – tablets and smart devices, Lenovo India.

Mumbai-based electronics retailer, Mahesh Telecom, has seen a growing demand for tablets in the range of ₹10,000- ₹20,000. However, supply from the side of vendors has been limited.

“Tablets are in great demand especially those with big screens that are good for studies," said Manish Khatri, partner at Mahesh Telecom.

To leverage this growing demand, companies in the segment have started launching new products. Samsung recently launched the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite tablet with a 10.4-inch screen and the S-Pen.

Lenovo also plans to launch new tablets with more children centric features. “We are making efforts to bring in more innovation in our products with improved kids mode, metal body, and Full HD screens to improve customer experience," added Harjai.

Growing demand for tablets will help many brands offset the poor run they had during Q12020. According to a CMR (CyberMedia Research) report, the tablet market in India in Q12020 declined by 24% sequentially. CMR forecast that the tablet market will pick-up in the second half of 2020 with demand coming from both consumer and enterprise segments.

“We believe, over the short-to-mid-term, some tablet vendors will stand to benefit from the increased productivity demands in the new normal, including home learning and work from home requirements. In addition, there will be a potentially increased market demand from law enforcement and healthcare for covid-19 counter-measures," Menka Kumari, analyst-industry intelligence group, CMR, said in a statement.

However, this sudden interest in the tablet segment may not translate into a revival of the category as many who are looking for these devices are also considering other options such as low-cost laptops. Laptop brands have already started taking advantage of this by launching low-cost devices for around ₹20,000-30,000.

“It is true that tablets are seeing some traction for e-learning. Also, laptops are less mobile and portable than tablets. Plus, kids these days need a touch device and touchscreen laptops are fewer and costlier. But it is a little early to call it a revival," said Navkendar Singh - research director, client devices & IPDS, IDC (International Data Corporation) India.

Singh feels many consumers are also looking at low-cost laptops than tablets especially for students in secondary schools, who need to create content compared with primary classes where they only consume content.

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