IDC: Android Tablets Gain Momentum - Apple drops to 50%

[Boz]

Worldwide tablet shipments totaled 27.8 million units in the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12), according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. The tablet market grew 49.5% year over year in 3Q12 and 6.7% over the second quarter of 2012. Android shipments, led by Samsung and Amazon, surged during the quarter, at the expense of Apple, which saw its share slip notably during the quarter.

Apple's slowdown put a sizeable dent in the company's commanding worldwide market tablet share, which slipped from 65.5% in 2Q12 to 50.4% in 3Q12. The remaining top five tablet vendors all gained share during the quarter as a result. Most notable was the impressive quarter turned out by Samsung?driven by its Galaxy Tab and Note 10.1. Samsung shipped 5.1 million tablets worldwide in 3Q12, up 115.0% from 2Q12; that's an increase of 325.0% from 3Q11, when it shipped 1.2 million tablets.

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23772412

[Scorbing]

I said it once and I'll say it again...Apple needs to re-design iOS and they need to open it more. Let the user do more with it like customize it the way they want, add widgets if they want, etc, like Android does, otherwise they will go down the drain. Android's app store may suck but people like it because is customizable, iOS is not.

[thealexweb]

Samsung's growth rate there is staggering 0.o

[efjay]

Best thing about this, no Windows 8 tablets in sight apart from 2 running crippled RT and an out of stock Samsung Ativ. Microsoft's big gamble looks to be heading for failure.

[George P Global Moderator]

Best thing about this, no Windows 8 tablets in sight apart from 2 running crippled RT and an out of stock Samsung Ativ. Microsoft's big gamble looks to be heading for failure.

You do know that Windows tablets will show up in the 4th quarter right? Unless you think October is somehow in 3Q12.

[Rippleman]

Anyone else knew who posted this before even clicking it?

[Scorbing]

iOS Growth Is Gaining While Android Starts To Slow Down

http://www.cultofmac.com/199745/ios-growth-is-gaining-while-android-starts-to-slow-down/

I don't know what to believe anymore

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

The iPad Mini is probably not going to be one of the top sellers this Christmas. I suspect people are more likely to go for cheaper Google Play certified Android tablets instead.

[Shadier]

Best thing about this, no Windows 8 tablets in sight apart from 2 running crippled RT and an out of stock Samsung Ativ. Microsoft's big gamble looks to be heading for failure.

These statistics are from before Windows 8/RT was released. Windows 8/RT does not even exist as far as these statistics are concerned. Generally it is a good idea to get an understanding of what it is you're looking at before you make an opinion on it.

[ahhell]

iOS Growth Is Gaining While Android Starts To Slow Down

http://www.cultofmac.com/199745/ios-growth-is-gaining-while-android-starts-to-slow-down/

I don't know what to believe anymore

That seems like an unbiased source. :|

[shakey]

That seems like an unbiased source. :|

Ya, and I like how they spin what is happening.... " Apple has gained 17 million new users, where as Android has only 26.5 million new users. Android is slowing down, so Apple can catch up in the coming years..." Sure they can, because Andriod is only gaining still about 2x what Apple is.

[thealexweb]

That seems like an unbiased source. :|

We might as well ask for Tim Cook's opinion XD

[AJerman]

Ya, and I like how they spin what is happening.... " Apple has gained 17 million new users, where as Android has only 26.5 million new users. Android is slowing down, so Apple can catch up in the coming years..." Sure they can, because Andriod is only gaining still about 2x what Apple is.

Well, aside from the fact that that article is about cell phones and this topic is about tablets, they aren't exactly wrong in what they are saying. Android growth has slowed, and iOS growth has increased. However, it doesn't change the fact that Android is still beating iOS, it's just saying that it's beating them by a lesser growth margin, which is true.

To illustrate, look at these market reports:

September 2012 report: http://www.comscore....er_Market_Share

September 2011 report: http://www.comscore....er_Market_Share

As you can see, in from June 2011 to September 2011, Android grew 4.6% to iOS's 0.8%. Now look at June 2012 to September 2012. Android grew 0.9% to iOS's 1.9%. iOS is in no way threatening Android's market share, but their growth is higher at the moment. This can be attributed to a lot of things, but the fact that Android already has half the market is a huge factor. At some point it becomes difficult to continue to keep bringing in new users unless you just bury your competition in the ground, which isn't going to happen anytime soon in the smartphone market.

But as said, this is comparing smartphones which is an entirely different market than tablets. Android has taken a huge chunk out of the iPad market share in tablets in the last year now that viable alternatives are coming out, especially tablets like the Kindles and Nexuses that undercut Apple's price points by large amounts.

[Scorbing]

These statistics are from before Windows 8/RT was released. Windows 8/RT does not even exist as far as these statistics are concerned. Generally it is a good idea to get an understanding of what it is you're looking at before you make an opinion on it.

Microsoft Surface RT is indeed crippled and it seems to get really slow as more apps are opened and stay opened in the background. The other Windows 8 Pro Surface coming out in January with a full blown Windows 8 version will be powered by an Intel CPU which means the battery life on it will suck compared to the RT and it will also have a very high price tag so I don't see how this is going to attract people. I don't see any sense in paying over $1,000 for a Surface tablet when I can just buy an Ultra Book for that amount.

[Rippleman]

my aunt bought 10 android tablets the other day for stocking suffers... $45 each...

[ThePitt]

samsung is the new skynet

[Growled Member]

Maybe Apple should patent Android tablets. :p

[Anibal P]

Maybe Apple should patent Android tablets. :p

Nah, I see a new lawsuit aimed at Google and ASUS in the near future