Android now leads the tablet market with a 56.5% share

[(Spork)]

http://www.idc.com/g...Id=prUS24093213

There were more Android-based tablets shipped in Q1 2013 than all others combined, and here's why that matters

The Q1 2013 numbers from IDC, a technology and telecommunications research firm who keeps track of this sort of thing, show that Android tablets now lead the market with a 56.5-percent share. The 27,800,000 units shipped in the quarter is a 247-percent improvement from this time last year, when just 8,000,000 units were shipped. It's important to note that this increase doesn't come at the expense ofApple, who shipped 65.3-percent more tablets in Q1 2013 than they did in Q1 2012 -- it shows the market is growing, and the lions share of new purchases are Android.

These sorts of numbers make CEOs and people who count pennies pretty happy, and will be the fuel for fanboy wars across the Internet, but why are they important? I'll tell you why -- because the available selection of applications designed for Android tablets sucks.

Google keeps telling developers exactly how to build their app to take advantage of the real estate on a tablet, but because there weren't that many out there, nobody listened. Sure, there are some really great applications done "right" and look fabulous on our tablets, but most of them are just the phone version blown up to fill the seven or ten inch screen on your tablet with unused white space. Have a look at iPad apps, and you'll know exactly what I mean

Hopefully, with more Android tablets being sold than any others, developers will take notice and change this. You simply can't afford to ignore over half the market, and we saw what happened when Android took the phone market away from everyone else. I'm looking for big things now that we can no longer be ignored.

[dead.cell]

It's easy to say, "Hey devs, get the freak on board already!" but I've listened and talked to CEOs and various developers talk about why iOS gets the apps first, and from the sound of it, it seems developing for Android is much more of a process. At least, that's if you care at all to create a solid experience versus just dropping something half-baked (as some Android devs do).

I only wish devs had an easier time with Android so that we could see more apps and games make it to the market. It gets annoying to see "GAME DEVELOPER BLAHDIBLAH PRODUCING GAME FOR IOS!" as I've seen with X-COM and just recently, a Sid Meier game. (just off the top of my head)

[jasondefaoite]

27,800,000 is a 347.5% improvement over 8,000,000. Where did the 247% figure come from?

EDIT: Ok I've looked at the article. Appears they have a typo in the table. They say the improvement is 247.5%, it should be 347.5%

[Growled Member]

That's one heck of an increase. Not that I'm surprised. Android is awesome.

[ctrl_alt_delete]

Something seems weird with those numbers

[Elliot B.]

Doesn't surprise me as Android targets 100% of the hardware market (low, mid and high end). iPad is high-end only.

That's also the reason Android is the most used OS in phones :)

[jasondefaoite]

Ok forget my post above. YoY growth is 247%. Needed to minus the 100% of the previous years to calculate growth. My bad.

[siah1214]

It's easy to say, "Hey devs, get the freak on board already!" but I've listened and talked to CEOs and various developers talk about why iOS gets the apps first, and from the sound of it, it seems developing for Android is much more of a process. At least, that's if you care at all to create a solid experience versus just dropping something half-baked (as some Android devs do).

I only wish devs had an easier time with Android so that we could see more apps and games make it to the market. It gets annoying to see "GAME DEVELOPER BLAHDIBLAH PRODUCING GAME FOR IOS!" as I've seen with X-COM and just recently, a Sid Meier game. (just off the top of my head)

The other thing is that Android users don't want to spend money:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/technology/25android.html?_r=3&ref=technology&

It's been this way for years, and it makes sense. I'd say the majority of people buying Android are buying because it's cheaper. I had an android tablet for a while (back in Honeycomb days) and I noticed that most of the apps I'd have paid for on my iPod touch were free on Android but would have ads everywhere.

Also, it was a lot easier to sideload (read: steal) apps for android as well.

So all that to say that it makes sense to develop for iOS. Even Windows phone users are more willing to spend money on apps than Android users.

[The Evil Overlord]

Something seems weird with those numbers

lol it's android, they make up their own :p

I can see why, I like the android layout, on my S3 and my Note 10.1, my kids love the nexus 7's.

Easy to use, customisable, none of the cons other devices have (personal opinion only) but on the down side, only a few of the plus points that the rivals have also.

[HawkMan]

Doesn't surprise me as Android targets 100% of the hardware market (low, mid and high end). iPad is high-end only.

That's also the reason Android is the most used OS in phones :)

ipad 2 is decidedly mid end.... though compared to most "mid" end androids, it's probably considered high end but still :)

these numbers seem weird, though we rarely sell android pads at all. it does say "shipped" though...

[tsupersonic]

Good for Android, now let's see more tablet apps!

[ingramator]

This is contradictory to what I see, no one has an Android tab and most of them are on shelves... maybe retailers are stocking without sales? iPads however are flying out the door.

[techbeck]

This is contradictory to what I see, no one has an Android tab and most of them are on shelves... maybe retailers are stocking without sales? iPads however are flying out the door.

The article says shipped....not sold. And what you see is a very small percentage with whats going on every where else.

[(Spork)]

This is contradictory to what I see, no one has an Android tab and most of them are on shelves... maybe retailers are stocking without sales? iPads however are flying out the door.

shipped not sold .... and its just the opposite where i live ipads are not moving as much as the android tablet

[HawkMan]

what android tablet is moving though, the Galaxy tab top end model, or the Lenco 7 inch with a screen you can't see if you have lights on in the room that costs 99.9,-when the store isn't giving them away fro 50 to get rid of them.

[tsupersonic]

what android tablet is moving though, the Galaxy tab top end model, or the Lenco 7 inch with a screen you can't see if you have lights on in the room that costs 99.9,-when the store isn't giving them away fro 50 to get rid of them.

I would think tablets like the Nexus 7/10, Kindle/Nook, and Galaxy/Note range of tablets are the best sellers.

[HawkMan]

Kindle doesn't count as an android. Nook I suppose does, but I don't think that sold to the level of the kindle, either way, none of them are available over here. We did sell quite a few Nexus 7's though, not as many as iPad2''s though. Nexus 10's are still not available here... and even then they appear to be mostly flopping.

[techbeck]

Kindle doesn't count as an android. Nook I suppose does, but I don't think that sold to the level of the kindle, either way, none of them are available over here. We did sell quite a few Nexus 7's though, not as many as iPad2''s though. Nexus 10's are still not available here... and even then they appear to be mostly flopping.

Why wouldnt the Kindle count? They may not be officially counted because they dont have Google apps,but they do run the Android OS.

[episode]

27,800,000 is a 347.5% improvement over 8,000,000. Where did the 247% figure come from?

EDIT: Ok I've looked at the article. Appears they have a typo in the table. They say the improvement is 247.5%, it should be 347.5%

L2%

[Max Norris]

Why wouldnt the Kindle count? They may not be officially counted because they dont have Google apps,but they do run the Android OS.

Easily modded to run the stock Android too if wanted, complete with Google, my wife's Fire runs Jelly Bean rather well. Even before that though, yea it's still Android under the hood.

[HawkMan]

Why wouldnt the Kindle count? They may not be officially counted because they dont have Google apps,but they do run the Android OS.

They don't count as android OS devices because officially they don't run the android OS, even if they do. on these metrics they would be a separate category, something you'll also see as Amazon also show off how well they do by comparing sales with android devices.

Easily modded to run the stock Android too if wanted, complete with Google, my wife's Fire runs Jelly Bean rather well. Even before that though, yea it's still Android under the hood.

Still not sold as an android device. so on these stats they are not android devices.

[LaP]

Most (close to all) of the tablets i see in the wild are iPad. I see lot of Android Phones but tablets not so much.

[techbeck]

They don't count as android OS devices because officially they don't run the android OS, even if they do. on these metrics they would be a separate category, something you'll also see as Amazon also show off how well they do by comparing sales with android devices.

Kindles do run the Android OS. Its a modified version, but at the core it is Android. It doesnt run Google Apps tho.

[tsupersonic]

They don't count as android OS devices because officially they don't run the android OS, even if they do. on these metrics they would be a separate category, something you'll also see as Amazon also show off how well they do by comparing sales with android devices.

Still not sold as an android device. so on these stats they are not android devices.

The numbers don't add up - they are counted as being Android devices. If you look at both charts, that becomes more apparent. They are Android devices at the core, but the Android chart itself should be split apart, as there are many different manufacturers and devices that make up the Android ecosystem.

[HawkMan]

Kindles do run the Android OS. Its a modified version, but at the core it is Android. It doesnt run Google Apps tho.

I know that, but as far as these stats go, they are not android, since they are not a properly licensed android OS product and thus they are no Android.

Amazon don't consider them Android, Google don't, and sales don't, certain users do, regular users don't have a clue what an OS is anyway.