Worldwide tablet shipments have slowed down, according to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC), as the market lacks new products to excite consumers.
According tot he IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, global tablet shipments experienced a sequential decline in the second quarter of 2013 as total volumes fell -9.7% from 1Q13.
Apple experienced the biggest and only year-on-year slump (down 14.1% from the same period in 2012), with the company’s iPad seeing a lower-than-predicted shipment total of 14.6 million units for the 2Q13, down from 19.5 million in 1Q13.
“In years past, Apple has launched a new tablet heading into the second quarter, which resulted in strong quarter-over-quarter growth,” The IDC said.
“Now, Apple is expected to launch new tablet products in the second half of the year, a move that better positions it to compete during the holiday season.”
Not all looking down
Not all vendors experienced a slowdown during the quarter, according to the data.
Lenovo had shipments surpass the million unit mark in a quarter for the first time, shipping a total of 1.5 million devices. This was up 313.9% year-on-year, and enough to capture 3.3% market share.
Acer, which shipped 1.4 million tablets in 2Q13 for 247.9% year-over-year growth, saw an increase of 35.4% over the first quarter of 2013.
“The tablet market is still evolving and vendors can rise and fall quickly as a result,” said Ryan Reith, Program Manager for IDC’s Mobility Tracker programs.
“Apple aside, the remaining vendors are still very much figuring out which platform strategy will be successful over the long run. To date, Android has been far more successful than the Windows 8 platform. However, Microsoft-fueled products are starting to make notable progress into the market.”
Top Five Tablet Vendors, Second Quarter 2013 (Shipments in millions)
| Vendor | 2Q13 Shipments |
2Q13 Market Share |
2Q13 Shipments | 2Q13 Market Share | Year-over-year Growth |
| Apple | 14.6 | 32.4% | 1B | 60.3% | -14.1% |
| Samsung | 8.1 | 18.0% | 1B | 7.6% | 277.0% |
| ASUS | 2.0 | 4.5% | 1B | 3.3% | 120.3% |
| Lenovo | 1.5 | 3.3% | 1B | 1.3% | 313.9% |
| Acer | 1.4 | 3.1% | 1B | 1.4% | 247.9% |
| Other | 17.5 | 38.8% | 1B | 26.2% | 136.6% |
| Total | 45.1 | 100.0% | 1B | 100.0% | 59.6% |
More on tablet growth
Tablet shipments to surpass portable PCs in 2013
Apple: expect more gamechangers
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