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Global shipments of tablets hit a new quarterly low of 33 million units in the first quarter of 2018, falling 28.2% sequentially and 14.9% on year, due partly to insufficient stimulation from the non-Apple during the traditional off season and partly to white-box makers' clients adjusting inventory. Shipments are expected to fall further to a new low of 31.06 million units in the second quarter, according to Digitimes Research.

The sharp tablet sales decline came despite Apple launching new iPads for 2018, as Apple has failed to offer sharp price cuts in accordance with market expectations. Apple launched education-use iPads in the first quarter at a unit price of US$299, which come with Apple Pencil and software offering free learning resources and teaching instructions.

In terms of sizes, most of the new tablets launched in the early 2018 are 9.7-inch or bigger models, with shipments of 7-inch and 8-inch devices declining steadily. In particular, the shipment ratio for 7-inch models has plunged by over 8pp for two consecutive quarters.

As to tablet processors, since Samsung Electronics and Huawei have boosted the ratios of in-house developed solutions, the shipment ratios for processors rolled out by MediaTek and Qualcomm have continued trending downward.

In the second quarter, Apple's tablet shipments are expected to pick up significantly as it is slated to launch new iPad Pro devices for 2018 in the quarter. Amazon's shipments are also likely to surge in preparations for Amazon Prime Day on July 10.

But since there are few new models from other non-Apple brands to support the second-quarter slow season, global tablet shipments from brand suppliers are estimated to see a slight sequential fall of 2.7% in the second quarter of 2018. As white-box makers will see a larger shipment decline, the overall second-quarter global tablet shipments will post a contraction of 6.24% on quarter to reach 31.06 million units, Digitimes Research estimates.