Detachable tablets: iPad, Surface in close tussle for number one in NZ market

Less than one thousand shipments separated the top two detachable vendors in 2016, according to IDC New Zealand's recently published 2016 fourth quarter Personal Computing Devices Tracker results.

Apple captured the top spot in 2016, with a total market share of 32%. In number two was Microsoft, with a total market share of 31%. This is the first year since 2013, that Microsoft has not held the highest full year shipments share in the detachable market.

A total of 80,000 detachables were shipped into the New Zealand market in 2016, increasing from 55,000 in 2015 – growth of about 45% year-on-year.

HP (9%), Samsung (7%), and Acer (7%) made up the remaining top five vendors for the year, with the rest of the market accounting for less than 15% of shipments.

Apple grew close to 650% year over year, off a small shipment base, due to entering the market late in 2015. In contrast, Microsoft achieved modest growth of 3% over its 2015 detachable shipments. These stark differences in percentage terms highlight the difference between a mature market player and a new entrant.

For the purposes of IDC's survey, a detachable is defined as a tablet with a clip-on keyboard made by the same manufacturer. IDC puts Apple's iPad Pro range, first released in late 2015, in this category.

Chayse Gorton, Mobile Device Market Analyst for IDC New Zealand, who spoke to NBR Radio about the results, believes that aside from the popularity of Apple, there are two key reasons contributing to Microsoft’s fall from the number one position.

Mr Gorton says, "Microsoft is facing increasing competition from the wide range of detachable models, running windows operating system, on the market". Competition has led to Microsoft's share of windows detachable shipments falling from 58% in 2015, to 50% in 2016. He adds, "competing windows detachables often have similar specifications to Microsoft detachables but are frequently sold at a lower price. Given New Zealand is a price conscious nation, a lower price, even by small a margin can be enough to entice a consumer to purchase from a competing vendor."

In Mr Gorton's opinion, "In 2016, Microsoft enhanced its identification as a premium vendor, by introducing higher-end models and reducing its low-end range." The Surface Book, Microsoft's most premium detachable, started shipping early in 2016, and at a similar time, the Surface 3, Microsoft's low-end detachable stopped shipping. This change in strategy contributed towards Microsoft's modest shipment growth.

In 2017, IDC forecasts detachables to grow 25-30%, before beginning to flatten off in future years. This will occur as detachable models' wow factor reduces, and as consumers evaluate the added benefit over competing personal computers.