If you've seriously invested or are starting to invest in Android tablets, reports have found that the market for such is on the decline.
The first victim to drop off from the race is Dell, which recently announced that it will be abandoning its Android Venue tablets as well as its Wyse Cloud Connect, running on the Android platform. The company also purportedly signed off its IT services to a Japanese company, NTT Data, recently, and it could be inferred that the company might be undergoing major structure and product reformation, hence the sudden changes in its offered services.
"We've found that the lack of productivity delivered by slate tablets are forcing people to leave them at home, and instead continue to use PCs to get real work done," vice president and general manager for commercial client solutions at Dell, Kirk Schell, writes, adding that "the slate tablet market is oversaturated and is experiencing declining demand from end users."
In general, the company will be leaving all of its Android devices behind and will focus on 2-in-1 portable systems instead, running on the Microsoft Windows 10 OS, as Dell finds a flourishing market unfolding for these devices. These hybrid 2-in-1 systems, or so-called "detachable tablets," combine the performance power of a regular laptop and the mobility of lightweight tablets which perfectly suit the demands of a fast-paced work environment.
Schell explains that the observed general trends in market numbers are pointing towards the rising popularity of 2-in-1 systems while at the same time, these recent developments in the industry are completely in sync with Dell's belief "in the flexibility and functional design of 2-in-1 systems for commercial use."
"With the release of Windows 10, our 2-in-1s and laptops are positioned to take advantage of the largest growth opportunities within the personal computing space," Schell adds. "Dell is repositioning its mobile products portfolio to take advantage of both the resurgence of the 2-in-1 market and the continued growth of the traditional form factor laptop."
Meanwhile, the company does promise to still provide services and support for current Android-based Venue tablet holders until the company's contract with the user and the devices' warranty expires. No further upgrades to the Venue tablet's OS will be released in the future, though, leaving Venue holders cut short from the battery-efficient Android 6.0.
Consumers, on the other hand, should be more careful in choosing their next tablet investment as a declining industry for these gadgets could lead most device manufacturers to follow Dell's lead.
End-users may wake up one day to find that their recent tablet purchase will no longer be supported by its manufacturer and thus, be left behind with an outdated piece of technology sans any opportunity for product support or free over-the-air (OTA) updates.
