IDC forecasts 'challenging' year for tablets as Apple's iPad continues to lead
Though its total shipments fell year over year last quarter, Apple and its iPad still accounts for about a third of all tablets pushed to market last quarter, though research firm IDC has predicted overall tablet growth will be slow throughout 2014.
The latest data from IDC issued on Thursday shows that tablet shipments grew just 3.9 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2014. Apple already reported its own iPad shipments of 16.4 million last week, a year-over-year decline of 16.1 percent that the company said was largely due to channel inventory fluctuations.
IDC estimates that Apple's iPad accounted for 32.5 percent of all tablets shipped in the March quarter, good for first place. Samsung is estimated at second place with 11.2 million units shipped, giving it a 22.3 percent share and 32 percent year over year growth.
From there the competition thins, with Asus taking a distant third on shipments of 2.5 million tablets. Lenovo was fourth with 2.1 million units, while Amazon and its Kindle Fire line took fifth with 1 million for the quarter.
Total tablet shipments for the quarter are estimated to have been 50.4 million units, up 3.9 percent from the 48.6 million shipped during the same period a year ago. IDC has predicted that 2014 will prove to be a "challenging year" for the tablet market.
"The rise of large-screen phones and consumers who are holding on to their existing tablets for ever longer periods of time were both contributing factors to a weaker-than-anticipated quarter for tablets and 2-in-1s," said Tom Mainelli, IDC program vice president of Devices and Displays. "In addition, commercial growth has not been robust enough to offset the slowing of consumer shipments."
Though Apple is the market leader in terms of hardware, on the software front IDC declared Android the leader, accounting for about two-thirds of tablets shipped during the three-month span. Windows tablets were essentially a non-factor, though IDC cited that some devices like the Asus T100 have become "sleeper hits" for customers looking for devices that are "good enough."
The latest data from IDC issued on Thursday shows that tablet shipments grew just 3.9 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2014. Apple already reported its own iPad shipments of 16.4 million last week, a year-over-year decline of 16.1 percent that the company said was largely due to channel inventory fluctuations.
IDC estimates that Apple's iPad accounted for 32.5 percent of all tablets shipped in the March quarter, good for first place. Samsung is estimated at second place with 11.2 million units shipped, giving it a 22.3 percent share and 32 percent year over year growth.
From there the competition thins, with Asus taking a distant third on shipments of 2.5 million tablets. Lenovo was fourth with 2.1 million units, while Amazon and its Kindle Fire line took fifth with 1 million for the quarter.
Total tablet shipments for the quarter are estimated to have been 50.4 million units, up 3.9 percent from the 48.6 million shipped during the same period a year ago. IDC has predicted that 2014 will prove to be a "challenging year" for the tablet market.
"The rise of large-screen phones and consumers who are holding on to their existing tablets for ever longer periods of time were both contributing factors to a weaker-than-anticipated quarter for tablets and 2-in-1s," said Tom Mainelli, IDC program vice president of Devices and Displays. "In addition, commercial growth has not been robust enough to offset the slowing of consumer shipments."
Though Apple is the market leader in terms of hardware, on the software front IDC declared Android the leader, accounting for about two-thirds of tablets shipped during the three-month span. Windows tablets were essentially a non-factor, though IDC cited that some devices like the Asus T100 have become "sleeper hits" for customers looking for devices that are "good enough."
Comments
Though Apple is the market leader in terms of hardware, on the software front IDC declared Android the leader, accounting for about two-thirds of tablets shipped during the three-month span.
Android is the leader in tablet software??? What??
Has IDC ever used an Android tablet?
I would like to see an iPad that can actually be rolled or folded.
No individual breakout for the mighty Microsoft tablet sales.
Android is the leader in tablet software??? What??
Has IDC ever used an Android tablet?
I think they are discussing which OS had the more unit sales, since those other competitors were selling both Windows and Android tablets, they combine all of the sales by OS (software) and I think that's what he means by when he said "Android is the leader in tablet software?.
Right, what the hell are these 'others'? Mattel toy tablets? According to this table these 'others' are making billions and we don't even know who they are?
Right, what the hell are these 'others'? Mattel toy tablets?
No, those cheap one's that sell for $60 to $100
http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/Android_Tablets/Cheap_Android_Tablets/
Everyone should go back and read this, for some crow eating:
http://readwrite.com/2013/02/04/200-million-workers-want-windows-8-tablets-not-ipads#awesm=~oD1yaaipuo1XvE
There is no way in FUK that Samsung sold 11,000,000 tablets in Q1'2014
I travel all over, and see maybe 1 samsung tablet for every 30 iPads. I pay attention to this stuff. No fucking clue how these #s would even be possible, or who the **** is buying them, and where.
"Though Apple is the market leader in terms of hardware, on the software front IDC declared Android the leader, accounting for about two-thirds of tablets shipped during the three-month span."
I can't make sense of this sentence.
"Though Apple is the market leader in terms of hardware, on the software front IDC declared Android the leader, accounting for about two-thirds of tablets shipped during the three-month span."
I can't make sense of this sentence.
Apple sold the most tablets out of each of the mfg, but Android sales were higher in the number of units, but there were several companies that were selling Android tablets, so they added up all of the Android based tablets and that was more than Apple by themselves. Yeah, I think it wasn't written very clearly. They could have done a better job explaining the situation.
I think they are discussing which OS had the more unit sales, since those other competitors were selling both Windows and Android tablets, they combine all of the sales by OS (software) and I think that's what he means by when he said "Android is the leader in tablet software?.
"Shipments" not sales.
Definitely not the year of the tablet anymore. So glad I bought a Retina MBP instead of a iPad Air this year. A reall workhorse. My iPad 3 works just fine at 2 years old. Not much difference between it and the Air in what it can accomplish.
I don't get it- you were debating betweeen an iPad and a retina MBP? Those choices couldn't be more different. You don't buy an iPad based on "if its year of the tablet", you buy one if it suits your needs. It's kind of messed up that you're glad you bought a MBP based on sales charts.
And yes, the iPad 3 is still fine. That doesn't mean there's "not much difference" between that an an iPad Air. There's actually a masisve difference, as far as hardware performance and size/weight are considered. A much bigger difference than equivalent MBP changes in that timespan.
"Shipments" not sales.
I'm sure a lot of those "shipments' are in inventories at various resellers. :-) but if the mfg sold some to a reseller, then it's the reseller's inventory and the mfg SOLD them to the reseller. So the mfg claims it as a SOLD item or SHIPPED them as kind of the same thing. Apple has inventories in resellers' inventories that haven't been sold to the end user. It's kind of hard to calculate exactly how many have been sold to an end user because these mfg sell direct and to resellers, but I don't think IDC has double checked through the reseller channel, since many are small stores independently owned and do not report unit sale.
Everyone should go back and read this, for some crow eating:
http://readwrite.com/2013/02/04/200-million-workers-want-windows-8-tablets-not-ipads#awesm=~oD1yaaipuo1XvE
You know I think this may be true, since IT worker worry about their jobs and MS is sure thing for employment. If more Ipads get deployed into the corporate market these IT workers will be out of a job since the support requires for iOS is far less then that of an MS product.
No, those cheap one's that sell for $60 to $100
http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/Android_Tablets/Cheap_Android_Tablets/
My in-laws got one of these for going to visit a time share sales pitch. It did not work, could not connect to the Internet since it said it fail to authenticate, could not figure it out and it now sits in a drawer and they now use an Ipad the kids bought them for Christmas, and all they wanted to do was read their gmail and surf the web and it failed miserably at that
Where is Google's Nexus 7? Is Google the cheater actually selling Asus tablet as its own? But Asus market share also declined despite being promoted by Google?
Android is the leader in tablet software??? What??
Has IDC ever used an Android tablet?
It's the classic, OEM vs OS battlefront.... Same song different verse of: "Apple is the 3rd leading PC maker, but Microsoft sells 92% of the PC OS licenses...' (2005).
The problem with Android is that it's not an 'ecosystem' like Windows was (welcome to the fact that most of your 'computing' is done at the other end of an HTTP/HTTPS pipe.) Apple even more than MS back in the day, sells a consumer solution. Android... well it sells an embedded OS that you may or may not use the built in interfaces or ecosystems.