Apple may be in a battle with Samsung over their iPhone but it has not stopped them increasing their share of the international tablet market to almost 70 percent in Q2, up from 61.5 percent in Q2 last year, according to the latest figures from IDC.The nearest competitor was Samsung, with a mere 9.6 percent of the market, followed by Amazon – whose sole tablet, the Kindle Fire is not sold out in Australia – on 5 percent, Asus 3.4 percent and Acer a miserable 1pc.
In terms of numbers shipped, Apple did 17 million, Samsung 2.4 million, Asus 855,000 and Acer 365,000.
Apple’s shipments grew 84 percent over the 9.2 million iPads it shipped in Q2 last year. And, while Samsung struggled to maintain relevance in the marketplace, it did record an even higher growth rate – 117.76 percent – from Q2 last year when it shipped just over 1 million Galaxy tablets.
IDC puts global tablet sales for the quarter by all makers at 25 million, up 33.6 per cent from the first quarter and 66.1 per cent year-over-year. It says Apple got a boost from the March release of its newest version of the iPad.
However Bob O’Donnell, IDC’s clients and displays VP, sees a much changed landscape ahead. “In addition to major new products from Amazon and quite likely Apple, we can also expect an influx of Microsoft Windows 8 and Windows RT-based tablets starting in late October,” he said.
