The global tablet market has continued to decline as consumers continue to opt for phablets over the larger screen devices.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), 49.6m tablets were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2017, a fall of 7.9 per cent compared to the 53.8m shipped in Q4 2016. Meanwhile, shipments across the whole of 2017 declined by 6.5 per cent from 174.9m in 2016 to 163.5m last year.

Apple maintained its big lead in Q4 2017, showing a slight 0.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth from 13.1m to 13.2m. Interestingly, Amazon leapfrogged Samsung for the first time in the quarter with a growth of 50.3 per cent to reach 7.7m shipments, compared to Samsung’s 13 per cent fall from 8m to 7m shipments. Apple, Amazon, and Huawei – which grew 11.9 per cent to 3.5m – were the only companies to see growth in the quarter.

Across the entire year, Apple sat on top of the pile – with a three per cent growth from 2016 to 43.8m shipments – but Samsung claimed second after achieving 24.9m shipments for a decline of 6.4 per cent. Amazon claimed third with a 38 per cent growth from 12.1m in 2016 to 16.7m last year. Once again, Apple, Amazon, and Huawei – with a 28 per cent growth to 12.5m – were the only companies to see growth across the whole year.