Google is finally starting to show some love for tablets and other large-screen devices. After neglecting tablets for years, Android 12L invested in tablet-focused UI changes for maybe the first time since Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. And with it, Google also signaled that tablets were an essential pillar of Android's long-term strategy, and committed to supporting them better — we've even got a Pixel tablet to look forward to. Hopefully that kind of renewed interest breathes a little life into the form factor: the latest tablet shipment numbers are in and they show that Android tablets are (still) struggling.

According to newly released data from IDC and Strategy Analytics, the tablet form factor is having a rough go of things right now.

IDC's data shows the global tablet market grew by a measly 0.15% over the course of the past year. Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and Huawei all saw considerable reductions in their shipments while Amazon has seemed to pick up some of the difference as it saw a roughly 27% increase in shipments from the same quarter last year. Other smaller players like Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo were able to notch up gains.

The catch here is that we're simply talking about tablets — no mention of the software that's on them. Apple lost about 3% from this time in 2021, but considering that Samsung lost 11% as it launched the Galaxy Tab S8 series earlier this year, we'd consider that a bad snapshot for Google. Lenovo dropped 26% on the release of one new Android mid-ranger. Amazon and Huawei don't count as Android™ tablet makers in this case since their tablets don't offer Google Mobile Services.

Meanwhile, if things looked rough for tablets, then it's pure turbulence for Chromebooks. IDC has also tracked steep Q2 declines in Chromebook shipments from the major venders year-on-year, including a massive 78.6% drop from HP. Overall, Chromebook shipments shrank a total of 51.4% — that's to say 12.3 million Chromebooks were shipped in Q2 2021 while Q2 2022 saw just 6 million.

Chromebook Android Tablet Shipments Q2 2022
Source: IDC

Does this mean nobody wants to buy Android tablets or Chromebooks anymore? Are they just less attractive device categories these days? Not necessarily. Protracted economic tensions and the war in Ukraine may be driving personal purchasing decisions overall.

Meanwhile, a separate report from Strategy Analytics shows that Android's hold on the tablet market has slipped to 49%, bringing below majority status for the first time in 10 years.

It is important to note that the analysts producing this report came up with some very different numbers from the ones IDC generated. Strategy Analytics's figures reflect shipments to retailers while IDC tracked shipments to distributors as well as end users. Strategy Analytics indicates a reduction in Amazon's shipments from last spring, but the OEM may be waiting on cycling in new Fire tablets to brick-and-mortar stores.

Still, both reports share an overall trend — demand for Android tablets fell together with the rest of the market. While Apple also saw a reduction in total iPad shipments, it did manage to score an increase market share, climbing 3.3% to reach 38%.

It's too early to say whether doubling down on Android tablets will pay off for Google or not. As Andorid OEMs consolidate efforts to make the experience of using tablets with the OS actually good again, and as the global economy improves, we hope to see these numbers to improve. Likewise, while the Chromebook situation looks awful right now — especially considering that amount of low-price stock out there — those numbers might also grow as schools ramp up efforts to provide PCs to students.

UPDATE: 2022/07/31 12:04 EST BY JULES WANG

Clarification

We've updated our story to include more context about the reported numbers as well as the OEMs concerned.