Despite Sales Gains, Apple Continues To Lose Tablet Market Share

Apple once again didn’t make the majority of tablets purchased during the previous quarter. From October through December, Cupertino’s share of the global tablet market stood at 43.6 percent. This was down from 46.4 percent in the preceding quarter, according to a new IDC survey. Meanwhile, Samsung and ASUS saw noticeable gains. Samsung’s share increased from 7.3 percent to 15.1 percent. ASUS saw a gain from 2 percent to 5.8 percent. One year ago, Apple's share of the global tablet market stood at 51.7 percent.

This doesn’t mean that Apple didn’t see growth. Compared to the same quarter in 2011, Apple’s saw tablet sales increase 48.1 percent, from 15.1 million to 22.9 million units shipped. Samsung’s gain was 263 percent, while ASUS’ was 402.5 percent. In total, 52.5 million tablets were shipped during the final quarter of 2012. This was an increase of 75.3 percent year over year. The report suggests that Microsoft has largely failed with the company’s new Surface tablet. During the quarter, just 900,000 units were shipped worldwide. According to Ryan Reith, program manager, Mobile Device Trackers at IDC:

We believe that Microsoft and its partners need to quickly adjust to the market realities of smaller screens and lower prices. In the long run, consumers may grow to believe that high-end computing tablets with desktop operating systems are worth a higher premium than other tablets, but until then ASPs on Windows 8 and Windows RT devices need to come down to drive higher volumes.

Earlier this month, Apple reported record sales revenues of $54.5 billion along with a net quarterly profit of $13.1 billion, or $13.81 per diluted share. Apple missed estimates on revenue numbers, but did beat profit estimates. See also: Most Of Us Don't Need The 128GB iPad, At Least Right Now. Via: BGR

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