Credit: Photo 21948357 / Apple © Phillip Danze | Dreamstime.com
Demand for Apple solutions in the Australian PC and tablet markets held strong over the last year, with the tech giant seeing headway in the local region with its M1 chip.
According to analyst firm Telsyte, 36 per cent of Australians planning to purchase a computer in 2022 are considering Apple devices with the M1 system-on-a-chip, which first launched in 2020 on Macs and is now included on select MacBook and iPad models.
This continues the trend seen in 2020, which saw Apple Mac sale demand up by 16 per cent in part due to interest in the M1 chip.
The vendor's recent iPads are particularly gaining traction within the Australian market, as Telsyte’s Australian Tablet Computer Study 2022 found that 23 per cent of iPads sold in 2021 used the M1 chip.
Overall, Telsyte’s research found computer and tablet sales softened in 2021, with the computer market declining by 2.3 per cent year-on-year to 4 million and the tablet market rising by 1.4 per cent to 3.4 million.
However, Macs were a “standout” in the computer market during that time, rising by 17 per cent growth, the firm claimed.
Additionally, Apple was also the market leader for tablets, with 53.6 per cent of devices sold last year being iPads. This is compared to Windows devices with 28.5 per cent, Android with 16 per cent and ChromeOS at 2 per cent.
Chromebooks were another significant player in terms of market growth, rising during the year by 15 per cent, albeit from a smaller base.
Telsyte claimed the rising popularity of Chromebooks, both in 2-in-1 and laptop devices, is turning it into an “increasingly competitive” player in both the tablet and desktop markets.
Lenovo is making the best out of Chromebook’s market viability, with the analyst firm stating that it is currently the leading vendor for the device in both the tablet 2-in-1 and computer markets.
Meanwhile, Telsyte added that Google’s refocusing on Android tablets, including better support from the Android 13 operating system version, has the potential to improve productivity and list consumer and developer interest.
