According to research firm IDC, Samsung is still the top provider for tablet devices in the Philippine market in 2021. Despite that, both it and second place Cherry Mobile suffered negative YoY growth in the tablet market even as blended learning requirements increased the demand for tablets, a device seen as a device that was on its way to obsolescence.

“Since the suspension of face-to-face schooling, the Philippines tablet market has seen massive annual shipments of almost 1.2 million units in 2021. While this was lower than the 1.9 million in 2020, this was still far higher than the sub-million unit markets in pre-pandemic 2018 and 2019,” said Angela Medez, Client Devices Market Analyst at IDC Philippines.

The biggest winner for 2021 as far as tablets go is Lenovo, whose YoY growth jumped to an astounding 204.6%, putting the brand in third place. Following behind Lenovo is Huawei, which posted a YoY growth of 40.2%, a feat that’s impressive by itself considering its devices don’t have the ability to connect to Google services or Play apps.

But the growth of Samsung tablet devices, as well as those of its rivals, may be truncated this year compared to 2021, as a majority of the country shifts to the less stringent Alert Level 1 COVID restriction, which means more schools will open their doors and allow students back in their classrooms.

“After nearly two years of remote learning, tablet shipments are expected to decline in 2022 but remain above pre-pandemic levels as the Department of Education commences its ‘progressive expansion’ plans of limited face-to-face classes in areas under alert levels 1 and 2 for both public and private schools in February 2022,” she added.