Tablets are on the decline for the first time ever!

The PC market is rising, while tablets are declining: has the world gone crazy?

Brace yourselves: a few weeks ago we found out that sales of personal computers went up in 2014. And now even bigger news: tablets sales are starting to decline.

Seriously, what is happening right now? Is everything we once held dear all one big lie? To quote Bill Murray from some movie that was begging for a remake: "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

Ok, maybe it’s not that bad, but it is an intriguing development, as the fourth quarter of 2014 saw the first ever year-to-year decline since tablets first hit the market in 2010, according to a new report out from the International Data Corporation (IDC) on Monday. 76.1 million units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2014, declining 3.2% from Q4 2013.

Things overall are pretty good, though, as shipments for the full year 2014 increased 4.4%, reaching 229.6 million total units.

Jitesh Ubrani, Senior Research Analyst at Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, attributes the decline to less than robust sales of Apple and Samsung products, saying in the report that the two companies "carry the market forward each year,."

"Although Apple expanded its iPad lineup by keeping around older models and offering a lower entry price point of $249, it still wasn't enough to spur iPad sales given the excitement around the launch of the new iPhones," he said. "Meanwhile, Samsung's struggles continued as low-cost vendors are quickly proving that mid- to high-priced Android tablets simply aren't cut out for today's tablet market."

While both Apple and Samsung are both still doing fine, each one saw a significant decline in shipments year-to-year.

Apple had 21.4 million shipments in Q4, for a 28.1% market share; that was down 17.8% from 26 million shipments and a 33.1% market share in the same quarter the year before. Samsung, meanwhile, shipped 11 million units, for a 14.5% share. That was a decline of 18.4%, from 13.5 million units, and a 17.2% share, a year before.

Yet those weren't even the worst declines. ASUS went from 4 million units to 3 million units, dropping 24.9%, and going from 5.1% share to 4%.

But none of them hold a candle to Amazon, which dropped from 5.8 million units, to just 1.7, by far the lowest of any of the major manufacturers, and a drop of an astounding 69.9%. It went from having 7.4% share to a mere 2.3%. 

The only manufacturer to actually increase year to year was Lenovo, going from 3.4 million units to 3.7 million, increasing by 9.1%. It's market share went from 4.3% to 4.8%.

The timing of the first tablet decline is interesting, as it comes as the PC market is starting to make a teeny tiny comeback. PC shipments actually went up during the fourth quarter of 2014 a mere 1%, increasing to 83.7 million units. They also went up 13% year-to-year. That was after two straight years of decline.

So does this mean that the personal computer is going to come roaring back, while the tablet declines? I would say most definitely not. While a single quarter does not a trend make, if this continues to happen in subsequent quarters, though, then the space might have a problem on its hands.

(Image source: edudemic.com)