The year 2015 was therefore the first year of decline of the local tablet market, following the 40% growth in volume and 2% growth in value in 2014 and doubling or even tripling sales before that.
“We estimate the tablet market reached a volume of about 800,000 units, slightly lower than in 2014, as the tablet becomes a gadget more carefully chosen, for well-defined usage scenarios,” said Alexandru Costache, head of product management telecom with Samsung Electronics Romania, the leader of the local mobile device (smartphones and tablets) market.
“The market saw a greater decline in value, about 20%, which was partly due to the rise in the number of actors on the market and the supply.”
The surge in tablet sales in 2010-2013 was driven by the novelty of such devices and their low prices, as more and more local companies created their own brands of tablets and launched models that cost as little as 200 lei (EUR44). This is how local tablet vendors like Allview, E-Boda, Evolio, Serioux and Utok came to dominate the market, accounting for about 50% of it by number of units sold.
“The problem with the tablet market is that the customer profile has changed in the past few years. People are mostly buying tablets for kids,” said Cristian Cojocaru, head of the telecom division with Samsung Romania.
“I see a rebound on the business segment. It’s a complementary device to a laptop or other mobile 2 in 1 devices but has its own place.”
Tablets are mostly used to watch video content or for games, but the premium models that target business users can successfully replace a laptop if used with a keyboard.
Samsung accounted for more than 30% of the local tablet market by value and 20% by volume last year, increasing its sales compared with 2014.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)