According to a research report from DigiTimes, via AppleInsider, the overall global tablet market shipment volume has increased by 16.3% in the third quarter of 2016, reaching nearly 47 million units. Overall volume is still down by 10% in comparison with the year-ago quarter.
The report says that Apple will see consistent sales of its high-end tablets in the third calendar quarter of the year. In contrast, Apple’s rivals, such as Samsung and Amazon, will be greatly affected by the huge volume of “white box” generic tablets from Chinese companies that are flooding the market.
All white box vendors combined are expected to increase to 18.5 million units shipped to retailers, up from 13.8 million shipped in the second quarter of 2016.
Apple will only have a slight dip, thanks to the success of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, down to 9.5 million, but Samsung will be impacted to a much greater extent by the flood of white box tablets, says the report.
Source: Supply chain sees tablet market expansion, with Apple's iPad holding fast