Huawei bumped Apple’s iPad from the top spot in the Chinese tablet market in the first quarter of 2020 as the COVID-19 health crisis affected sales in the all-important market.
A new report today (via South China Morning Post) says China’s first-quarter 2020 tablet shipments were down 30% compared to the same period in 2019, based on data supplied by research firm IDC.
Huawei was the only brand to show positive year-on-year growth, up 4.3% to 1.5 million units. The Chinese electronics firm grabbed a 40.2% share of the Chinese market, compared to Apple’s 31.5% share.
Xiaomi, Microsoft, and Lenovo filled out the rest of the top five, and all saw their sales slump in the same quarter, accounting for 5.5%, 3.2%, and 1.7%, respectively.
A March Nikkei report indicated Chinese stocks of the iPad were running low, as parents in the country were buying them to aid them in continuing their kids’ education via e-learning at home. Local labor and components shortages saw suppliers struggle to meet production demands in the face of government-imposed lockdown restrictions.