Windows tablets took 11% market share in 2015, mainly from Apple

Windows tablets are being seen as the rising star of the Windows ecosystem, and its main saviour as the computing ecosystem becomes increasingly mobile.

Hard numbers around the progress of the category has however been hard to come by, but recent numbers by Strategy Analytics have shed some light on the situation, and it’s looking pretty good for Microsoft and Windows.

They note the tablet market itself fell 8% to 224.3 million unit in 2015, while iOS shipments dropped 22% and Android shipments -7% YoY.

Windows tablets however grew 59% Year on Year.

Eric Smith, Senior Analyst, Tablet & Touchscreen Strategies service said, “2-in-1 Detachable Tablets have reached an inflection point in 2015 as computing needs continue to trend more and more mobile and Tablets with Windows 10 can compete against iOS in the premium and high price bands and equally well against Android in the mid and lower price bands. The Q4 2015 launch of Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book was met with many “Surface clones” by Microsoft’s OEM partners at lower price points. This variety of devices will bolster momentum of Windows Tablets going forward.”

Windows tablets are supported by the growing Windows 10 ecosystem of Universal Windows Apps and also the large legacy x86 app market, which allows those devices to be competitive with the iOS and Android ecosystem. With Windows 10 growing rapidly, there appears to be no reason why the competitiveness of Windows tablets, and by extension Windows 10 Mobile phones, will not continue to improve going forward.