The unlikely resurgence of the tablet market will continue in Q3 2020

But as it turns out, tablets did prove essential after all for a lot of folks who had to work or take classes at home these past few months, boosting demand to an impressive (and unlikely) level during Q2 2020. Digitimes Research actually predicted this hike in shipments back in April, forecasting a similar spike to a “level not seen in recent years” for Q3 2020.

The data analytics branch of the Taiwan-based newspaper is avoiding the kind of specific projections it put together more than three months ago, simply highlighting some of the reasons why global tablet shipments are expected to grow at a rarely seen pace for the second quarter in a row.

 

These include “sufficient production capacities”, “rush orders” deferred from the year’s second quarter, and “re-stocking demand from channel operators”, all of which strongly suggest COVID-19 is no longer a problem, at least as far as manufacturers and retailers are concerned.

In terms of what consumers might be seeking in these troubled times, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear large models measuring at least 10 inches in screen diagonal are considerably outselling compact 7 and 8-inchers, although Amazon is tipped to single-handedly boost the latter segment during Q3 “thanks to seasonal effects.”

In other words, the e-commerce giant’s in-house Fire slates are likely to prove significantly more popular in the three months ending September than the April – June timeframe, which could be enough to lift the company ahead of Huawei on the worldwide vendor podium.

Naturally, Apple and Samsung are unlikely to have their gold and silver medal positions threatened, given the latter company is expected to release the high-end Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+ in the very near future, while iPads remain pretty much impossible to beat.