Tablets need to stop ‘being so boring’

Barcelona - Slowing tablet sales can be curbed by launching more interesting devices, says an expert from Chinese computer maker Lenovo.

Last month, research firm IDC said global tablet sales for the full year in 2014 rose just 4.4% to 229.6 million units, after a jump of more than 50% in 2013.

The IDC said the tablet market slowed because consumers are keeping their devices longer and buying large smartphones dubbed ‘phablets’ or ‘ultra-mobile’ PCs.

Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain; Jeff Meredith who is the VP and GM for Lenovo’s Tablet Business Unit said Lenovo occupies third position in the global tablet market and that its sales grew by 50% last year in this segment. Apple and Samsung, meanwhile, top the world’s tablet market.

Meredith further expressed his thoughts on the state of the global tablet industry, saying that just making evolutionary changes with, for example, thickness won’t cut it in future.

“I think there’s a big opportunity in the tablet industry to stop being so boring,” said Meredith.

“The iPad was launched in April 2010 and since then people have largely just created products that look a lot like the iPad.

“To me when a technology category becomes a bit boring and stale and predictable, if all I’ve done is upgrade from HD to full HD to QHD over four years, I’m not sure that really makes a huge difference to the majority of mainstream consumers,” he added.

“What I’ll tell you is the next phase for the category of tablets is going to be one where the winners actually step out and prompt the user to say 'that’s interesting, that’s unique'. 'That makes me want to think about purchasing a new tablet',” he said.

Factors to watch

Looking forward, Meredith said he thinks the global tablet market could grow between 5-8% next year.

“I think it could go higher,” he said, stressing that certain factors need to come into play.

He further told Fin24 that demand for connected tablets - those with 3G and 4G network access - will increase.

He also said more tablets are starting to be sold “aggressively” online while Google Android’s latest ‘Lollipop’ 5.0 version is being increasingly more trusted from a security perspective.

“I definitely see a change in climate relative to Android and commercial,” he said.

Fin24 is hosted by Lenovo at the Mobile World Congress 2015.