Apple's share of tablet market slides to 77%, Android rises to 22%
Despite posting impressive sales of the iPad last quarter, Apple saw its tablet market share drop from 95 percent to 77 percent as shipments of Google Android-based tablets chipped away at the company's tablet dominance, a new report says.
Sales of the first competitors to Apple's iPad have begun to take off, resulting in the market share for tablets running the Google Android mobile OS increasing nearly tenfold in the December quarter, said research firm Strategy Analytics on Sunday.
Last quarter, the firm reported that Apple held a dominating 95 percent of the tablet market, with Android tablets representing just 2.3 percent of the market.
Apple reported record sales of 7.3 million iPads in the December quarter, while Android shipments jumped from just 100,000 units to 2.1 million, according to the report.
"The Samsung Galaxy Tab was the main driver of Android success,? said Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics. ?Tablet makers like Android because of its perceived low cost and an accompanying range of compelling media services such as YouTube and Google Maps.?
In November, Samsung revealed that sales of the Galaxy Tab had reached 600,000 in the first month of availability. Last week, Samsung announced that it had sold 2 million tablets in the fourth quarter.
Update: Samsung has admitted that its "sales" figures for Galaxy Tab are actually inventory channel stuffing and do not represent real sales to consumers.
Apple will face even stiffer competition later this year when Motorola and Research in Motion launch tablets of their own. The Motorola Xoom, which was "not completely done" when it was demoed at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, is scheduled for a first quarter release. A purported leak from Verizon's internal inventory system suggests that the Motorola Xoom could debut for as much as $799.99.
BlackBerry maker RIM is working on the PlayBook 7-inch tablet, which is also set to launch by the end of the first quarter. A recent survey by Royal Bank of Canada analyst Mike Abramsky indicated that prelaunch interest in the PlayBook is well behind that of the iPad. Another analyst has alleged that RIM is struggling to extend the PlayBook's battery life beyond just a "few hours," though the Ontario-based smartphone maker has denied the claims.
For its part, the Cupertino, Calif., iPad maker has not been resting on its laurels. Numerous reports have emerged suggesting that production of the second-generation iPad will begin in February for a possible April launch. A recent analyst report claims that Apple is focusing on "thickness and anti-reflection, not resolution" for the next iPad. According to the report, Apple will also include a dual-core processor, upgraded graphics processor, and more RAM.
Sales of the first competitors to Apple's iPad have begun to take off, resulting in the market share for tablets running the Google Android mobile OS increasing nearly tenfold in the December quarter, said research firm Strategy Analytics on Sunday.
Last quarter, the firm reported that Apple held a dominating 95 percent of the tablet market, with Android tablets representing just 2.3 percent of the market.
Apple reported record sales of 7.3 million iPads in the December quarter, while Android shipments jumped from just 100,000 units to 2.1 million, according to the report.
"The Samsung Galaxy Tab was the main driver of Android success,? said Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics. ?Tablet makers like Android because of its perceived low cost and an accompanying range of compelling media services such as YouTube and Google Maps.?
In November, Samsung revealed that sales of the Galaxy Tab had reached 600,000 in the first month of availability. Last week, Samsung announced that it had sold 2 million tablets in the fourth quarter.
Update: Samsung has admitted that its "sales" figures for Galaxy Tab are actually inventory channel stuffing and do not represent real sales to consumers.
Apple will face even stiffer competition later this year when Motorola and Research in Motion launch tablets of their own. The Motorola Xoom, which was "not completely done" when it was demoed at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, is scheduled for a first quarter release. A purported leak from Verizon's internal inventory system suggests that the Motorola Xoom could debut for as much as $799.99.
BlackBerry maker RIM is working on the PlayBook 7-inch tablet, which is also set to launch by the end of the first quarter. A recent survey by Royal Bank of Canada analyst Mike Abramsky indicated that prelaunch interest in the PlayBook is well behind that of the iPad. Another analyst has alleged that RIM is struggling to extend the PlayBook's battery life beyond just a "few hours," though the Ontario-based smartphone maker has denied the claims.
For its part, the Cupertino, Calif., iPad maker has not been resting on its laurels. Numerous reports have emerged suggesting that production of the second-generation iPad will begin in February for a possible April launch. A recent analyst report claims that Apple is focusing on "thickness and anti-reflection, not resolution" for the next iPad. According to the report, Apple will also include a dual-core processor, upgraded graphics processor, and more RAM.
Comments
But in the end Apple will make more money in the tablet business because it doesn't compete with any other iso device. Just like the pc the Android tablets will be hammering it out for margins with the same hardware and of course the same mobile OS.
Many will go south because you know there will be those poorly built honeycomb tablets next to the chocolate covered cherries in 7-11 going for $60.00!
those are the tablets will will kill off HP's slate and the RIM playbook. Cheap, disposable and no offing support.
Not a big deal anyway, Apple doesn't have to own the entire tablet space. Competition is good. Hopefully it just makes them better.
Apple sold 14.8 million iPads in 2010 calendar year while androids sold 2.1 million. Apple has about 87% market share not 77%. 77% is just the 4th qtr result.
And does the article say anything else?
As for Apple, they will do just fine.
Samsung 'sold' 2 million? Where's the evidence? (Please don't post links to stories saying 'shipped.')
Since everyone else but apple sells to carriers it's rather hard to get sales from Samsung.
The tab is nice if there wasn't an ipad. All the upcoming tablets are also kinda hit or miss.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4138/t...nds-on-roundup
Can anyone tell me the benefits of the Samsung iPad-clone-but-smaller-yet-clunkier?
I tried to find advantages over the iPad, and found none. Yes there's camera's, but everything looks and feels so hobbled together I can't imagine anyone paying more than pocket change for it.
It's smaller; more expensive; feels like a Chinese 1 dollar toy; the OS/interface is chaotic, unintuitive and vaguely reminiscent of Windows 3.1 (icon/label positioning); scrolling is stuttery; some apps scale, some apps fill only half the screen.
Besides, I coudn't find any (useable) apps for it, and the sticker told me it could run a full (woo-hoo) 7 hours on a battery while my iPad easily gets me through the day (12 hours or more).
I only played with it for about 20 minutes, but was utterly unimpressed, so I really, really like to know where the reviewers found all the good things. There can't be a million idiots out there...
Samsung 'sold' 2 million? Where's the evidence? (Please don't post links to stories saying 'shipped.')
Did you see "evidence" for the Apple sales or do you take them for granted?
I must say that I'm happy seeing an unspun headline for a change. I'm a happy iProduct owner but I hate it that most Apple sites spin their headlines or just ignore news that might be negative for their religion.
Did you see "evidence" for the Apple sales or do you take them for granted?
I must say that I'm happy seeing an unspun headline for a change. I'm a happy iProduct owner but I hate it that most Apple sites spin their headlines or just ignore news that might be negative for their religion.
Just as a personal aside, what exactly do you expect from fan sites anyway?? I think your expectations are highly unrealistic in this day and age of blogdom. Partisanry is rampant and you need to get used to it - just don't go to those sites where the commentary is off-the-wall - or conversely learn to ignore the things that are blatant fanatical commentary and/or trollish. Most Microsoft sites do the same, the Android sites are rife with it as well.
Of course there was evidence of the iPad sales - it was just reported in Apple's quarterly financial reporting. If you go to a site like asymco - you get the essentials all the time.
This was a stupid hit-baiting headline anyway. What idiot would make a call like that? Apple owned the field because they were the only one for sometime actually in the field. Once they set the interface and physical format criteria as a benchmark -all the rest of the manufacturers are rushing to fill in the rest of the field now. The competition is just heating up - same as they did with the iPhone and the iPod. But every new product release they learn valuable lessons on how to manage their marketshare, making it harder for the rest to anticipate and plan forward of where Apple is going. Apple is responsible for popularizing the format and touch interface, everything else right now is merely derivative. Someone like Microsoft has the resources to try and get out in front of Apple -but they are too hobbled internally by their culture to be effectively innovative. I hope that changes, but I am not optimistic.
Did you see "evidence" for the Apple sales or do you take them for granted?
I must say that I'm happy seeing an unspun headline for a change. I'm a happy iProduct owner but I hate it that most Apple sites spin their headlines or just ignore news that might be negative for their religion.
Apple is doing well on all fronts. Why would you expect a lot of negative news. Normally it is the "other guys" that are trying to put spin on things because that is all they got.
There are official reports from Apple on Sales. Their quarterly sales were posted in the last week or so.
If you start out with 90 something share of a new market, it is not surprising that this will go down as others enter that market. So this is newsworthy; but it gives little indication as to how this market is going to shake out.
As for Apple, they will do just fine.
Couldn't agree more - only thing surprising to me was that they didn't have an even higher share to start with - when you are at the top and other players enter you naturally go down. BFD - wait and see how it looks after Android tabs are out for a while (and Galaxy users find they can't upgrade to Honeycomb - unless hardware specs have changed).
Did you see "evidence" for the Apple sales or do you take them for granted?
I must say that I'm happy seeing an unspun headline for a change. I'm a happy iProduct owner but I hate it that most Apple sites spin their headlines or just ignore news that might be negative for their religion.
You missed his point. He is raising the issue of shipments versus sales to end-users, or sell-through. Samsung has never giving figures for sell-through, yet Apple gives both. In the case of Samsung, it's a very important point since all Samsung's sales are to resellers opposed to Apple's direct sales.
The Galaxy Tab is available in 100 countries on 200+ carriers. Therefore, most of the 2M units was just channel fill, no real evidence of strong-sell though. The resellers might have to take a bath if they can't sell off their stock. There is already evidence this might be happening due to the recent price cuts for the Samsung Tablet.
In short, Samsung could report 2M unit sales without a single one being purchased by a end consumer.
http://forums.appleinsider.com/image...ies/1oyvey.gif Competition is good. Keeps companies agile. But...
Can anyone tell me the benefits of the Samsung iPad-clone-but-smaller-yet-clunkier?
I tried to find advantages over the iPad, and found none. Yes there's camera's, but everything looks and feels so hobbled together I can't imagine anyone paying more than pocket change for it.
It's smaller; more expensive; feels like a Chinese 1 dollar toy; the OS/interface is chaotic, unintuitive and vaguely reminiscent of Windows 3.1 (icon/label positioning); scrolling is stuttery; some apps scale, some apps fill only half the screen.
Besides, I coudn't find any (useable) apps for it, and the sticker told me it could run a full (woo-hoo) 7 hours on a battery while my iPad easily gets me through the day (12 hours or more).
I only played with it for about 20 minutes, but was utterly unimpressed, so I really, really like to know where the reviewers found all the good things. There can't be a million idiots out there...
i am absolutely not interested in another 10" device. ipad is the best and i have one, but, i am going to buy a 7" pad of some type and since apple still thinks no one wants a tablet between 5 and 7 inches it will have to be android based.
And does the article say anything else?
Ah, yes it does actually.
It implies by the way it's written that the 77% is a cumulative result, or where Apple stands now overall, whereas if it's just the fourth quarter number that's a different thing entirely. The way the word "slip" is used here is a part of it.
Edit:
Also, outside of the Tab there aren't any Android tablets shipping in numbers at all yet, so how can Android take any reasonable percentage of the "tablet market"? Methinks they are including and all those smartphones that the manufacturer just chose to *call* a tablet even though we all know they aren't.
That is called early adopters. There is no evidence that Android for tablets is taking off. They have yet to release a real tablet OS and we have yet to see if there will be developer support for the platform.
This.
A lot of consumers need to try the other side before settling on a better experience.