News Feature | August 19, 2016

Tablets Market Still Contracting, Market For Line-Of-Business Deployments Shows Great Potential

Christine Kern

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Tablet Market Contraction

VDC Research tracks the global market for enterprise tablets to unveil opportunities.

The tablets market has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride over the past few years, moving from an extended period of significant growth to stagnation, and now to contraction. A VDC Research report, The Global Market for Enterprise Tablets, tracks the overall market opportunities for both rugged and consumer grade tablets used to support mobile enterprise line-of-business (LOB) applications.

While the overall tablet market is expected to remain in a period of prolonged contraction over the next five years, the market for line-of-business (LoB) tablet deployments to enterprise and government contexts is still filled with opportunities for significant growth. Specifically, VDC Research predicts the consumer grade tablet market will shrink from $60.1 billion in revenue shipments to $55.2 billion through 2020. While this is a substantial decrease, the report also notes it would have been larger without the 201 hybrid category of tablets and other greenfield opportunities for sub-$150 devices in emerging markets.

Ultimately, the report finds, “The story of general contraction actually turns into one of opportunity for significant growth,” particularly in the retail/hospitality and transportation sectors where customer facing workers can be equipped with mobile devices. As organizations continue to refocus resources on customer engagement and satisfaction rates in a highly competitive ecosystem, these types of deployments will continue to provide a ripe opportunity.

Healthcare is another industry where the value of rugged versus commercial grade tablets is debated, as Business Solutions Magazine reported.

Among the study’s key findings:

  • The rugged tablet market continues to grow, just more slowly than in previous years.
  • While the overall market for consumer grade tablets will shrink over the next few years, VDC projects growth in consumer grade tablets for enterprise and government sectors, as well as in the 2-1 hybrid form factor (both rugged and consumer grade.) Apple continues to hold its lead for enterprise and government shipments.
  • Windows will remain the primary operating system for rugged tablets, but Android-based rugged tablets are poised to gain significant ground as well.
  • Competition between consumer grade and rugged tablets for enterprise LoB deployments remains fierce. AS some industries consider consumer grade products over rugged tablets for some workflows, rugged vendors are incorporating new technologies or developing semi-rugged alternatives to remain competitive.
  • Demand is expected to turn toward semi-rugged and consumer grade tablets with display sizes larger than 10 inches in the enterprise sector over the next five years, and 2-1 devices like the iPad Pro, Surface Pro, and Toughbook 20 are expected to fuel increased enterprise demand for these display sizes.
  • Accessories still remain the key to giving consumer grade devices greater enterprise appeal.
  • Tablet device requirements for enterprise deployments heavily focused on quality, reliability, security and price, with the top tablet feature being battery life for enterprise deployment.

The report also analyzes current trends driving investment in enterprise mobility solutions while providing future outlooks and insights for hardware vendors.