The iPad Sales Sector Lead but Loses Market Share in Q4 2012

In the last quarter, sales of Apple's iPad were up 48.1% over last year to reach 22.9 million units, while sales of Samsung soared 263% to reach 7.9 million units during the same period. It should be noted that the figures include sales of Samsung products combined Android and Windows 8, the company, and the figures include all Apple iPad models.

According to a new report from IDC, the iPad leads the tablet market share but loses market share to Samsung

Preliminary data have been published by IDC in its Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker report, which marks total tablet sales of 51.5 million units in the fourth quarter, representing an increase of 75.3% over last year when it sold 29.9 million units. He thinks that what has driven the tremendous growth in sales was the lowest price of the new devices and the increased consumer spending this Christmas compared to last year.

IDC numbers are aligned with the figure of 22.9 million units of the Apple iPad which facilitated conference results in the first quarter of fiscal 2013.

"The launch of new products from the leading suppliers in the category, as well as new Microsoft devices, led to an increased consumer interest and strong total sales during the holiday season", in the words of Tom Mainelli, research director of the tablet market, IDC. "The record quarter the tablet market is in stark contrast to the PC market, which suffered a drop in sales during the last quarter for the first time in more than five years ".

While Apple's market share fell for the second consecutive quarter, the iPad Mini and iPad still represent the majority of tablet sales with a share of 43.6%. Samsung ranked second with 15.1%, while the Amazon Kindle was left with a 11.5% market share. In late position is that Asus still experiencing a huge boost of 402.5% in sales over last year getting 3.1 million units, reduced its quarterly market share from 7.8% to 5.8%.

As for Microsoft Surface, could not get into the top five with just under 900,000 units sold after its launch in late October. Ryan Reith, program director of mobile devices at IDC, believes the Redmond software giant is serious about competing in the tablet space hardware, but doubts the market strategy of the company:

"We believe that Microsoft and its partners need to quickly adapt to market realities with smaller screens and lower prices.

In the long run consumers may come to believe that the high-end tablet with desktop operating systems deserve a higher premium than other tablet, but until then the devices with Windows 8 and Windows RT need to lower their price to get volumes higher sales. "

What do you think about it? Do you think the iPad will remain the king of the tablet market for whatever they do its competitors?

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Track | Appleinsider

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