India's tablet market contracts in Q4 2015; Datawind leads with 1 in 5 units

India's tablet market contracted 18.9% in the last quarter of 2015, with shipments falling 10.1% compared to the same period last year, International Data Corporation (IDC) said. India shipped 8.6 lakh units in the last quarter of 2015.

Most tablets sold in 2015 belonged to the $200 - $300 (nearly Rs 13,000 to Rs 20,000) price band, led by units from Micromax and iBall, while the sales of 8-inch to 9,9-inch tablets was thwarted by phablets in the year.

Datawind, the maker of Aakash tablets, dominated the market, selling one in five units in the last quarter. The company was benefitted by local manufacturing, free internet bundled tablets and larger online presence, IDC said and held a market share of 20.7% in Q4.

Samsung's shipments were down 8.7% in Q4 compared to the previous quarter, however, the company held the second largest market share in the last quarter. The company finished 2015 as the only vendor dominating the premium end of the market. 

Senior Market Analyst Karthik J, however, says, "Competition is likely to get intense with Apple entering the market with iPad pro and Microsoft Surface Pro joining the league in 2016 Q1".

Micromax, despite accounting for one-third of the total shipments in the year, numbers were down 24.1% in Q4.

Lenovo was the only PC vendor in the top five and the only other company that saw its shipments go up in the last quarter. In Q4 2015, the company's shipments were up 5.7% compared to Q3. In the year, they grew 57.6%. At 13.8%, Lenovo registered its highest-ever vendor share in India in Q4.

iBall, at number five, saw its shipments falling 45.2% in Q4, witnessing a "flattish performance throughout 2015". It's market share was 10%.

Despite a dismal fourth quarter, the tablet market grew 8.2% on the back of a low base of 2014 and strong sales in the second and third quarter of 2015. The fourth quarter also marked the first quarter to see sales of devives with all three major operating systems.