Android tablets more popular than iPads in 2015: report

New Delhi: Buoyed by government purchases, tablet PC shipment in India grew 13 per cent to reach 4.4 million in 2015, with low-cost device maker Datawind and Pantel emerging as top players in the segment.

"4.4 million tablet PCs were shipped in India in 2015, registering a growth of 13 per cent compared with 2014,"CyberMedia Research said in its India Annual Tablet PC Market Review report.

The top five tablet PC brands corner 66 per cent of the market share. A total of 66 brands, according to the report, shipped tablets in 2015 and towards the end of year, only 18 were selling these devices, it said.

"The marginal rise in tablet performance could be attributed to a few government deals. However, with rising demand for phablets/smartphones, the challenge for the industry would be to make it more exciting and bring in features attracting the consumer segment," CMR Analyst for Tablet Devices Tanvi Sharma said.

Datawind led the market with a 24 per cent share while Pantel Technologies took the maximum 17 per cent during the year. iPad sales dropped 22 per cent, as per the report.

"The trend could be seen shifting towards convertible tablets that come with a detached keyboard. At the same time, price sensitive consumers are resorting to sub-5,000 band, instead of 5,000-10,000 tablets, which was the trend last year," Sharma said.

CMR found android as 'default' OS choice with 92 per cent share and Windows platform rose by 1 per cent at 3 per cent.4G tablets constituted 7 per cent of the total tablets shipped, the report said.

"We expect 2016 to be even more challenging for the tablet market. Other than the government support through demand creation, the industry has to evolve them as solutions for the market to grow. This is the right moment for augmentation as we expect 4G to grow its 'real' base in India," Lead Analyst CMR Telecoms Practice Faisal Kawoosa said.