China's smart tablet online retail market sales reached 7.19 million units in the first eight months of 2022

According to the latest "China SmartTablet Online Retail Market Monthly Tracker" released by RUNTO, in the first 8 months of 2022, China's smart tablet Online retail market sales reached 7.19 million units. RUNTO's definition of a smart tablet is generally between 7 inches and 13 inches, with a touch screen as the basic input interface, equipped with an open operating system, with storage and memory functions, and users can install and run them by themselves. Tablet-type portable electronic devices for uninstalling application software.

Unlike other consumer electronics products, in addition to the big promotion cycle, the sales rhythm of smart tablets is closely related to the opening season. water level. 

Monthly sales volume of China's smart tablet online retail market, unit: 10,000 units.

The brand pattern of the smart tablet market is relatively concentrated. According to RUNTO online data, from January to August 2022, Apple and Huawei will occupy half of the smart tablet market, with a share of 51.7%, and their market position is extremely stable. The sales rankings are both firmly in the top two.

The top 5 brands and the mobile phone industry have a considerable degree of overlap, and mobile phone brands such as OPPO, Vivo, Realme, etc. have also quickly entered the smart tablet track since this year, taking advantage of their supply chain, technology research and development, channel outlets and other advantages to deploying new products to compete for smart tablets a place in the market.

Sales share of China's smart tablet online TOP10 brands from January to August 2022, unit: %

Smart tablets can be roughly divided into four categories according to application scenarios: readers, study notebooks, office notebooks, and general-purpose notebooks. Among them, the learning book takes educational resources, educational entertainment, educational applications, learning planning, knowledge testing, and specialty development as its core functions, and is mainly used in educational scenarios such as autonomous learning and classroom teaching. The office notebook has compound functions, not only with reading functions but also with multiple functions such as handwriting, biometric recognition, voice conversion, multi-device collaboration, split screen, etc. It is mainly used in office scenarios such as conferences and business negotiations.

According to RUNTO online data, from January to August 2022, among the overall smart tablets, general purpose books accounted for 89%, study books accounted for 6%, readers (Note: Kindle is not a smart tablet) and office books accounted for 3% and 2% respectively.

Product structure of China's smart tablet online retail market from January to August 2022, unit: %

In the past two years, stimulated by the double reduction policy and the COVID-19 epidemic, the development of learning books has entered the fast lane. The learning environment at the K12 level in China is changing from tutoring institutions to families. At the same time, under the influence of the epidemic, classes are suspended and learning is not stopped, and educational hardware has become the main equipment used in the family; the application and improvement of AI have made the learning effect significantly improved, which is also one of the important reasons for the rapid breakout of learning books.

According to RUNTO data, from January to August 2022, the sales of smart learning books will reach 532,000 units, and the monthly sales ratio will remain at about 6%.

The proportion of learning book sales in China's smart tablet online retail market, unit: %

According to the online data of RUNTO, from January to August 2022, Xiaodu, BBK, iFLYTEK, and Xiaobawang ranked in the top four in the learning market, with a combined share of 61.4%, and the market performance was moderately oligopoly type.

Sales share of TOP10 brands in China Learning Online Market from January to August 2022, unit: %

From the perspective of the brand camp, it mainly includes three types: technology brands represented by Huawei, iFLYTEK, Xiaodu, and other manufacturers, relying on their own IT, Internet, and AI genes, have efficient research and development capabilities and product innovation; traditional education The brand is represented by manufacturers such as Backgammon, Xiaobawang, Dushulang, and Youxuepai, and has a deep layout of offline sales channels; the content brand is transformed from K12 resource companies such as Jobbang and is still in its infancy, the market share is low.

Smart panels can be divided into three categories according to display technology: LCD liquid crystal display, OLED organic light-emitting diode display, and ePaper electronic paper display. Among them, electronic paper tablets will be very active in the smart tablet market in 2022 due to their unique low power consumption, eye protection, and paper-like features.

Data shows that in the first 8 months of this year, the online sales of electronic paper smart tablets (excluding Kindle) reached 362,000 units, with a penetration rate of 5%.

Among the TOP10 smart tablet brands, Palm Reading, which specializes in e-paper, ranks among them; Huawei and iFLYTEK continue to seize new growth through the contribution of e-paper tablet sales.

In terms of new product releases, 2022 is the first year of the explosion of electronic paper tablet products. In the first nine months of this year, a total of 14 brands released 24 electronic paper smart tablets.

Summary of major new product releases of China's electronic paper tablet in 2022

The report shows that despite the sluggish consumption environment in China, the smart tablet market still has room for growth. On the one hand, under the influence of the "double reduction" policy and the normalization of COVID-19, the demand for smart tablets for online learning and hybrid office has increased; on the other hand, in the Chinese market in 2022, new players will enter the market, The rapid advancement of technology has brought new impetus to market expansion. RUNTO predicts that the retail sales of China's smart tablet online market will reach 12 million units in 2022.