Huawei shipped 4 million tablets in the fourth quarter of 2019 for a year-over-year decline of 2.8%, as the worldwide tablet market declined, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC).
Apple maintained its leading position in the tablet PC market in the fourth quarter with 15.9 million shipments in the fourth quarter, an increase from the 12.9 million units recorded in the same period in 2018. The latest iPad accounted for 65% of shipments.
As the Apple's product portfolio is moving more towards detachables, slate tablet shipments have been at an all-time low with a 79.3% decline.
Samsung ranked second, but shipments of 7 million units fell 2.8% year-on-year.
Huawei ranked third with shipments of 4 million units, slightly lower than 4.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The decline was relatively mild compared to the overall market even though the company continues to face pressure from the United States, IDC said.
As a result, the majority of Huawei's sales come from Asia/Pacific, in particular China, where it still managed to record some growth. The new MatePad Pro 10.8" boosted growth but the MediaPad M series continued to account for the bulk of sales in Huawei's detachable portfolio, IDC said.
Amazon ranked fourth with 3.3 million units shipped. Black Friday sales on Fire HD 10, Fire HD 8, and Fire 7 drove unit volume and the Kids Editions of its tablets managed to account for a substantial portion of overall sales.
Lenovo ranked fifth with shipments of 2.5 million units.
The worldwide tablet market declined 0.6% year over year during the fourth quarter of 2019 as global shipments fell to 43.5 million units.
According to IDC, Apple's full-year shipments in 2019 also topped 49.9 million, followed by Samsung (21.7 million), Huawei (14.1 million), Amazon (13 million), and Lenovo (8.5 million).
Apple (Apple) and Amazon (Amazon) are the only two companies that have achieved annual shipment growth, contrary to the trend of overall sales falling 1.5% year-on-year to 144 million units.
