Global tablet shipments are expected to stay flat from a quarter ago and reach 49.31 million units in the second quarter of 2015, but compared to the same quarter a year ago, the volume will drop close to 10%. Apple's iPad shipments are expected to decline to 9.8 million units, down 30% on year, according to Digitimes Research's latest report about global tablets.
Because of the Lunar New Year holidays, which caused fewer working days in the first quarter, white-box players had weak shipment performance in the quarter, but are expected to gradually recover starting April. In addition, with Wintel China Technology Ecosystem's (CTE) 2-in-1 solution starting to gain demand, white-box players' combined shipments are expected to reach around 20 million units in the second quarter, performing best among the three major groups: Apple, non-Apple vendors, and white-box players.
Non-Apple vendors' shipments are expected to reach around 19 million units in the second quarter, about the same level as the first quarter because Samsung Electronics has shifted its mass shipment schedule from the first quarter to the second. The move will also help Samsung to shrink its gap with Apple.
Lenovo's MediaTek-based inexpensive tablet has also started mass shipments in the second quarter. Asustek Computer is expected to see shipments decline in the quarter because of reduced subsidies from Intel and issues with the CPU giant's SoFIA 3G-R.
Taiwan ODMs' tablet shipments will drop below 15 million units in the second quarter because of the shipment decline of iPads, and Taiwan brand vendors' weak performance, causing their combined share in worldwide shipments to drop, according to Digitimes Research.