Indian tab market falls 18% in 2016: CMR

The tablet PC market in India shrunk by 18 per cent to 3.5 million units in 2016 over the previous year, research firm CMR today said.
In the October-December quarter, shipments recorded a 16 per cent decline to 0.81 million over the same period of 2015 on account of lukewarm sales.
Datawind retained the top position with 34 per cent market share, followed by Samsung (18 per cent), Pantel (12 per cent) and Micromax (10 per cent) in 2016.
In terms of technology, shipments of units with 2G support witnessed a sharp fall of 92 per cent in 2016 over the previous year, while sales of 3G devices declined 71 per cent. 4G tablet sales rose by six per cent in 2016.

Iris-enabled and biometric tablets will see a bigger uptake in 2017 and overall, the market will see traction towards institutional and government sales, CMR analyst Menka Kumari said.
The research firm said the market is moving towards a consolidation phase and 2017 will see further shrinkage with only 6-7 serious players remaining in the list.
"We have seen about 40 players exiting the market in the past 3-4 years. Unless the tablet industry comes out as a gateway for a particular solution, the turnaround would be difficult for the market," CMR said.
While smartphones are taking care of the masses, the tablets industry should cater to particular segments and customised their specs accordingly, it added.