IDC: Apple's iPad took 83% share of tablets shipped in 2010

Posted:
in iPad edited July 2015
Contrasting Apple's recent claims that it controls more than 90 percent of the tablet market, research firm IDC revealed on Thursday that the iPad represented 73 percent of shipments in the fourth quarter of 2010, and 83 percent for the entire year.

IDC's "Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker" found that 10.1 million "media tablets" were shipped in the fourth quarter of calendar 2010. During the holiday frame, Apple sold 7.3 million iPads, representing its strongest quarter of sales in the device's short history.

IDC categorizes media tablets as devices with color displays larger than 5 inches and smaller than 14 inches, running lightweight operating systems like Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Shipments of media tablets in the U.S., Western Europe and Asia/Pacific are said to have accounted for 89 percent of the total market in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The firm found that the Samsung Galaxy Tab was the primary competitor to Apple's iPad in the holiday quarter, representing 17 percent of shipments in the fourth quarter.

Apple's share of tablet shipments dipped from 93 percent in the third quarter to 73 percent at the end of 2010 as competitors entered the market. But Apple still captured an 83 percent share of shipped tablets for the total calendar year. IDC expects the iPad to retain between 70 percent and 80 percent of the market in 2011.

"Strong holiday sales of media tablets were in line with IDC projections and strong consumer interest in the category while device vendors scrambled to offer products competitive with Apple's iPad and now iPad 2," said Loren Loverde, vice president, Consumer Device Trackers. "Media Tablets are on pace to reach shipments of roughly 50 million units in 2011."

IDC's figures contradict market share statistics stated by Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs at last week's unveiling of the iPad 2. Jobs touted that the iPad has more than 90 percent market share while competitors are "flummoxed."

It's possible that some of the difference could be explained by hardware shipped versus what was actually sold. While Apple saw strong sales of more than 15 million iPads to end users in all of 2010, Samsung shipped about 2 million of the Galaxy Tab, though actual sales to end users remain unknown. One report also claimed that the Galaxy Tab has a 16 percent return rate with buyers.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 54
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,857member
    Clearly, there's a big difference between shipped and sold. Sold is the only number that matters, not channel stuffing shipments. I also think this "media tablet" name for the category is quite stupid.
  • Reply 2 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Contrasting Apple's recent claims that it controls more than 90 percent of the tablet market, research firm IDC revealed on Thursday that the iPad represented 73 percent of shipments in the fourth quarter of 2010, and 83 percent for the entire year.



    Calling the Galaxy Tab a tablet is like calling a Cessna a jumbo-jet.
  • Reply 3 of 54
    Agreed. Counting what was shipped to suppliers doesn't really mean much. Lets see some numbers on Tablets sold before you call out Apple for "inflating" their numbers.
  • Reply 4 of 54
    cimcim Posts: 197member
    Apple owns the tablet market. Got it.
  • Reply 5 of 54
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CIM View Post


    Apple owns the tablet market. Got it.



    Until the Xoom utterly destroys it and takes over.
  • Reply 6 of 54
    physguyphysguy Posts: 920member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    until the xoom utterly destroys it and takes over.



    2015?
  • Reply 7 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post


    Clearly, there's a big difference between shipped and sold. Sold is the only number that matters, not channel stuffing shipments. I also think this "media tablet" name for the category is quite stupid.



    Still very good news for Apple though.



    Apple's "shipped" equates to "sold" almost 100% whereas the other makers shipped to sold ratio is much lower. That means Apple could be considered to have something closer to 90% of the market at this point.
  • Reply 8 of 54
    Surely there can't be any relation to this coming out today and iPad 2 coming out tomorrow... could there?

    Pump and dump, dump and pump.
  • Reply 9 of 54
    cimcim Posts: 197member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    Until the Xoom utterly destroys it and takes over.



    Xoom is a flop. Most people have already forgotten about it.
  • Reply 10 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sacto Joe View Post


    Calling the Galaxy Tab a tablet is like calling a Cessna a jumbo-jet.



    Well if it's not a tablet what is it?
  • Reply 11 of 54
    cimcim Posts: 197member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wheeles View Post


    Well if it's not a tablet what is it?



    An obese smartphone that doesn?t make calls.
  • Reply 12 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    Until the Xoom utterly destroys it and takes over.



    That and the numerous other tablets set to launch in the coming years.



    I'm inclined to think HP is the dark horse in this race. Soon they will be bundling WebOS on all their computer products and mobile devices. That will easily rival the installed base of Apple iOS and Mac OS before too long.
  • Reply 13 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CIM View Post


    An obese smartphone that doesn?t make calls.



    It's still a tablet in the same way that the iPod touch is.
  • Reply 14 of 54
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    “Shipped.” Not a very interesting number. I really don’t think the Tab took anywhere near 1/7 of the iPad’s actual sales! That’s just not particularly plausible. (Which of course should exclude returns!)



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wheeles View Post


    It's still a tablet in the same way that the iPod touch is.



    I agree, it’s fair to look at tablets that broadly if you choose. Mini-tablet? (I wonder what the tablet market looks like with the Touch thrown in!)
  • Reply 15 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wheeles View Post


    It's still a tablet in the same way that the iPod touch is.



    The iPod touch is considered a tablet?
  • Reply 16 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wheeles View Post


    That and the numerous other tablets set to launch in the coming years.



    I'm inclined to think HP is the dark horse in this race. Soon they will be bundling WebOS on all their computer products and mobile devices. That will easily rival the installed base of Apple iOS and Mac OS before too long.



    I would agree, if HP has the chutzpah to push back against years of obedience to Microsoft. That is an uphill battle that will require an immense amount of determination and talent to implement. The mobile space may be their bellwether to see if they can manage and deliver against another platform like Apple, in order to assess what their potential success would be in releasing WebOS on the desktop. If they manage even 20% mobile penetration successfully, you can count that as a huge indication of their ability to deliver WebOS to the desktop market and deliver a significant blow to Redmond's hegemony in the desktop space. BUT and this is very important - they cannot go the Android route and leave things sparse and loose. If they are going to deliver, they will need to build out a mature platform as good or better than Apple. They will not be able to do that "soon" as you predict, without leveraging a large amount of internal resources - an unheard-of commitment they have not been able to make in other areas. Does HP have enough of an innovation culture to manage this, we haven't seen it demonstrated so far.



    The caveats here are easy:

    IF they can commit the resources, and

    IF they can mature a serious platform delivery, and

    IF they can demonstrate it with a year or so, then

    they have a chance to rival the Apple platform.



    As you can see not easy, not without serious commitment on their part, and you also have to remember that Apple is a fast, forward-moving target, not a slow-moving behemoth like Microsoft.
  • Reply 17 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    ?Shipped.? Not a very interesting number. I really don?t think the Tab took anywhere near 1/7 of the iPad?s actual sales! That?s just not particularly plausible. (Which of course should exclude returns!)



    I agree, it?s fair to look at tablets that broadly if you choose. Mini-tablet? (I wonder what the tablet market looks like with the Touch thrown in!)





    The requirements used excluded the iPod Touch as a part of the "media tablet" category. It is arguable but an arbitrary set of requirements. I wonder who commissioned the report?
  • Reply 18 of 54
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    Given that Samsung admitted that their 2 million number was bogus, this article should not have been written because the 83% calculation is equally bogus.
  • Reply 19 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CIM View Post


    Xoom is a flop. Most people have already forgotten about it.



    Heh, they failed on the screen, lame. Even the galaxy tab got that part right.
  • Reply 20 of 54
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CIM View Post


    Xoom is a flop. Most people have already forgotten about it.



    The big question is will Honeycomb be a flop. The Xoom isn't doing well because of price point not because it isnt a good tablet.
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