Android surges as Apple shrinks. Windows hardly makes a blip …
Some 52.5 million tablets were shipped globally in the last quarter, latest figures from IDC reveal, but the bulk were Android devices as Apple’s iPad and iPad mini accounted for a dwindling share of sales. Though Apple still accounted for 43.6 per cent of devices sold, this was down from 51.7 per cent in the same period of 2011.
Korean giant Samsung, meanwhile, more than doubled its share to 15.1 per cent over the Christmas period with eight million Android devices sold, while Amazon shipped about 4.7 million Kindle Fire tablets closely followed by Google with its Nexus 7 with sales of 3.1 million tablets.
As for Microsoft, which launched its Surface tablet in the period, it failed to make even the top five – largely because of over pricing, it’s thought.
“We believe that Microsoft and its partners need to quickly adjust to the market realities of smaller screens and lower prices,” IDC said.
Overall, tablet shipments were 75 per cent up year-on-year, with the soaring growth fuelled by consumers switching to the more streamlined devices instead of PCs and laptops. Previous figures from rival research firm, Gartner, had already revealed that PC shipments fell to 90 million units in Q4.
If tablets continue to sell at the same rate throughout 2013 then it’s just possible, though unlikely, that their sales would overtakePCs by the end of the year.
Meanwhile Apple, while it still retains the lead as tablet supplier, saw its stock price plunge more than 12 per cent nine days’ ago after disappointing results for the Christmas period. Its shares are still down about about 10 per cent after it warned of lower revenue growth in coming months.
