The detachable tablet market has grown to 6.5 million units globally, according to fourth-quarter results from 2017, by International Data Corporation's (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.
The results show a 10.3% growth from the previous holiday season results.
Overall, detachable tablets grew 1.6% in 2017, a drop from the 24% of 2016. The report stated that slowness in growth was due to devices such as Surface being launched off schedule, putting older models out to pasture.
According to Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers: "To date, much of the trajectory of the detachable market has been attributed to Microsoft and Apple pushing their wares in the US."
"However, continued success of this category hinges on the willingness of other PC vendors to participate and more importantly, consumers from other countries to adopt the new form factor over convertible PCs," Ubrani concluded.
Older, slate-style laptops continued to be shipped in in large volumes reaching 43.1 million units during the fourth quarter.
The top five tablet companies, according to the IDC, over the fourth quarter in 2017, comprised Apple, Amazon.com, Samsung, Huawei and Lenovo. These statistics included both detachable and slate tablets in their respective ranges.
"After a concerning downturn in the last quarter of 2016 and first half of 2017, we are elated to see the detachable market maintain another quarter of growth," said Lauren Guenveur, senior research analyst for IDC's Devices and Displays team.
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