The tablets market is one growth area that even threatens the mere existence of PCs, smartphones are not growing as fast, particularly in the high end. Tablets are experiencing high growth particlularly Android tablets. Education and media consumption being the heroes in this field. In a report by IDC, Taiwan company Asus is shown to be on the rise in tablets sales.
A year ago in quarter 3, Asus sold 2.3 million tablets and in Q3 this year went over to 3.5 million tablets, and generally experiencing 53.9% year over year growth. The marketshare Asus commands in the tablets segment is 7.4% up fromn 6.6% same quarter last year. This affirms it’s position at third among tablets with Apple leading and Samsung second. Among Android tablets, Asus then comes second.
Commenting on the IDC results, Mr. Chris Wen, the product manager for Asus Kenya said. “The present success for Asus in the tablet market share is partly as a result of the growing popularity of tablets in emerging markets like Kenya. This ranking is not just important to the company but to gadget users as well since they will be keen to lay their hands on other Asus products which are better performing and pocket friendly.”
During the second quarter of this year Asus introduced the Fonepad in Kenya. The device was the first android tablet that runs the new Intel Atom processor. A few months later the Fonepad was followed by the launch of Nexus 7 that comes with Android 4.3- the latest version of the android Operating System (OS).
Asus stands at a vantage point as they build most of their components, hence the price of production is low. That’s why you will see Asus pricing their tablets very well for the mass market. That and partnerships such as one with Safaricom, a mobile network operator with retail outlets in most towns in Kenya will see Asus experience high growth particularly in the Kenya Market. Mr. Wen says Asus products can be expected in Safaricom shops in December this year.
