IDC: Worldwide Tablet Shipments, Win RT a failure

[still1]

Apple?s iPad led the charge as total worldwide tablet shipments hit a record of 52.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to IDC?s preliminary datafrom its Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, but its market share continued to slide due to competition from Samsung. Meanwhile, PC shipments declined during the quarter for the first time in more than five years. The tablet market grew 75.3% year-over-year, and increased 74.3% from the previous quarter?s total of 30.1 million units, helped along by holiday purchases, lower average selling prices and a wider range of products.

?We expected a very strong fourth quarter, and the market didn?t disappoint. New product launches from the category?s top vendors, as well as new entrant Microsoft, led to a surge in consumer interest and very robust shipments totals during the holiday season,? said Tom Mainelli, tablet research director at IDC.

Apple shipped a total of 22.9 million units, boosted by the launch of the iPad mini, as well as the fourth generation full-sized iPad. But while Apple?s iPad shipments grew 48.1% over the same quarter last year, Apple?s market share slipped for the second quarter in a row (down to 43.6% from 46.4% last quarter) as number two vendor Samsung continued to nip at the Cupertino company?s heels. Samsung enjoyed 263%, shipping nearly 8 million combined Android and Windows 8 tablets durings the quarter. It still holds 15.1% of the market, the same as from the previous quarter.

Competing vendors like Amazon and Barnes and Noble both saw an uptick in their market share thanks to the holiday season. Amazon shipped more than 6 million tablets during the quarter, increasing its share to 11.5% from 8.3% the previous quarter, with year-over-year growth of 26.8%. Barnes and Noble shipped almost a million units, increasing its share up to 1.9% from 0.7%, but its total dropped by 27.7% year-over-year. Microsoft new Surface with Windows RT tablet failed to reach the top five with just short of 900,000 units shipped. IDC said that Microsoft and its partners may need to create smaller devices and lower prices in order to compete because consumers are shying away from more expensive tablets with desktop operating systems.

?There is no question that Microsoft is in this tablet race to compete for the long haul. However, devices based upon its new Windows 8 and Windows RT operating systems failed to gain much ground during their launch quarter, and reaction to the company?s Surface with Windows RT tablet was muted at best,? said Ryan Reith, program manager, Mobile Device Trackers at IDC.

http://techcrunch.co...ng-22-9m-ipads/

[Boz]

What do you know.. iPad is down to 43%.. who would have thunk it..

Oh WAIT.. I did! Where are all those folks who called me crazy when I told them that by end of 2012 iPad will fall below 50% and who said that iPad will dominate the market FOREVAH!

What happened to those dumbass predictions by analysts that iPad won't drop to 50% until 2015 or later. LOL.

By next year they'll be lucky if they hold 25% of the market.

[linsook]

What do you know.. iPad is down to 43%.. who would have thunk it..

Oh WAIT.. I did! Where are all those iPad will have majority of the market FOREVAH!

Anymore predictions?

[Boz]

Anymore predictions?

I think it's obvious even to the birds outside.. it's happening the same it was happening with phones. In 2-3 years Android rose up and took significant marketshare from Apple and next 2-3 years it will absolutely dominate the tablet market.

[HawkMan]

Sales though, meaning the huge majority of pad owners still own and iPad and will still do that for years, their numbers don't add up anyway though.

[Mr. Gibs]

IDC: Worldwide Tablet Shipments, Win RT a failure

Yes because 3 months after Android tablets released, they were such a massive massive success. Nobody was calling them an utter dismal failure.

Oh wait. :rolleyes: In 2011 IDC (same people that made this report) claimed that Android had reached it's peak and will start declining because the new iPads would destroy it. How amazingly accurate they were.

[George P Global Moderator]

I wonder if IDC counts devices like my new Samsung smart pc as a tablet or are we limiting this only to arm devices? I've been using mine as a tablet the majority of the time even though I have the keyboard dock as well.

[hooko22]

I think apple does remarkably well when they dont have any competition!

[HawkMan]

I wonder if IDC counts devices like my new Samsung smart pc as a tablet or are we limiting this only to arm devices? I've been using mine as a tablet the majority of the time even though I have the keyboard dock as well.

Either way in these stats it would be counted as a Samsung, not a MS since MS only counts Surface, and even those numbers doesn't seem to be correct.

Has pachter started working for IDC....