Despite the tablet market's negative trajectory overall, shipments of detachable tablets reached an all-time high of 8.1 million devices in 2015, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).
Preliminary data from the IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker reveals detachable tablet shipments more than doubled since the fourth quarter of last year.
"This quarter was unique as we had new detachables in the market from all three of the major platform players," says Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers.
"Despite lukewarm reviews, the iPad Pro was the clear winner this season as it was the top selling detachable, surpassing notable entries from Microsoft and other PC vendors. It's also important to note the transition towards detachable tablets has presented positive opportunities for both Apple and Microsoft."
According to the IDC, the transition towards detachable devices appears to be in full swing as pure slate tablets experienced their greatest annual decline to date of 21.1%.
"One of the biggest reasons why detachables are growing so fast is because end-users are seeing those devices as PC replacements," says Jean Philippe Bouchard, research director for tablets at IDC.
"We believe Apple sold just over two million iPad Pros, while Microsoft sold around 1.6 million Surface devices, a majority of which were Surface Pro and not the more affordable Surface 3. With these results, it's clear price is not the most important feature considered when acquiring a detachable - performance is," notes Bouchard.
Meanwhile, the worldwide tablet market declined yet again in the fourth quarter of 2015 with 65.9 million units shipped, down 13.7% year-over-year.
Total shipments for tablets in 2015 were 206.8 million, down 10.1% from 230.1 million the previous year, according to the IDC.
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