Apple's iPad Tops Worldwide Tablet Market in 2Q11 with 68% of Shipments

Wednesday September 14, 2011 8:20 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Research firm IDC today released the results of its study of worldwide tablet and eReader shipments for the second quarter of 2011, and while the tablet market has changed dramatically in the nearly three months since the quarter ended, the data still offers an interesting look at Apple's performance in the market. According to the study, Apple rode the strength of the iPad 2 launch to capture over 68% of total worldwide tablet shipments for the quarter, up from 65% in the previous quarter.
Worldwide media tablet shipments in the second quarter were driven by continued robust demand for Apple's iPad 2, which saw shipments reach 9.3 million units, representing a 68.3% share of the worldwide market (up from 65.7% the previous quarter). Research in Motion entered the media tablet market in 2Q11 with its PlayBook product, grabbing a 4.9% share of the market. Apple's strength and RIM's entrance meant bad news for Android-based media tablets, which saw its collective share slip to 26.8%, down from 34.0% the previous quarter.
IDC predicts that Android's share will continue to shrink during the third quarter due to continued iPad strength and a flood of $99 sales of HP's discontinued TouchPad, but that Android will begin to regain share during the fourth quarter of the year as new models come to market.
"Apple's iOS share will continue to lead by more than 40 percentage points over Google's Android for the remainder of the year, but we expect Apple's share to fall closer to 50% by the end of the forecast period as manufacturers bring new tablets to market," said Jennifer Song, research analyst, Worldwide Trackers.
It is important to note that IDC's studies track shipments from manufacturers into their distribution channels, and by most accounts Apple's lead is even stronger when looking at sales to end users. Whereas Apple has repeatedly said that it is selling essentially every iPad it can make, a number of other vendors have seen their shipments into the channel languish amid low consumer demand.

Still, IDC is impressed by the total tablet shipments seen for the second quarter, which saw 88.9% growth over the previous quarter and 303% year-over-year growth. As a result, IDC has boosted its estimates for 2011 from 53.5 million units to 62.5 million units overall.

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Tag: IDC
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Consultant
110 months ago
Shipped is not equal to sold.

Most iPad wannabe are not sold but stuffed in retailer inventory channel.
Rating: 11 Votes
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the8thark
110 months ago

Shipped is not equal to sold.

Most iPad wannabe are not sold but stuffed in retailer inventory channel.

Quoted for truth. every one of that 68% is sold. How many of the remaining 32% actually ends up as sales to end users? And how many of that 32% is sold at a heavily discounted at a loss just to get rid of the dead stock?
Rating: 8 Votes
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interrobang
110 months ago
And the other 32% includes
- Unsold units shipped but gathering dust on store shelves
- HP Touchpads sold at below manufacturing cost
- $100 Chinese knockoffs sold at Walgreens
Rating: 8 Votes
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Ryth
110 months ago

...but that Android will begin to regain share during the fourth quarter of the year as new models come to market.


BS. Android is not going to regain share in the fourth quarter. They are going to lose more to iPad 2 holiday sales (and possible iPad 3 rumors).
Rating: 6 Votes
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cactus33
110 months ago

As someone who flies a lot, I have to say that my personal experience suggests that shipped numbers have virtually 0% reflection of sold numbers.

Monday, I did an informal glance around my red-eye flight. 12 iPads, 8 laptops, countless phones and kindles. Not a single GalaxyTab, TouchPad, Xoom, or also-ran/Chinese knockoff.

In the last dozen flights I've been on, I could count on one hand (but I'd only need half my thumb and index finger) the number of non-iPad tablets I've seen.

I'm not arguing the quality of these products. I've held them. I've played with them. They aren't worthless, they just aren't as polished or supported.


Exactly!!!

I live in H.K, the land of gadgets, and If you look, you'll see millions of iPads in daily use, but you'd be hard pressed to see any android/webos.
Rating: 4 Votes
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newagemac
110 months ago

What on earth are the other 32% buying?


This is "shipments" not sales to end users. So no one is buying them. They are sitting on shelves and in distribution centers.
Rating: 4 Votes
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TMay
110 months ago

What on earth are the other 32% buying?

Closeouts evidently, and HP handily owns that market!
Rating: 4 Votes
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RawBert
110 months ago

Why? Are you insecure?

Yes.
You're not?
Rating: 3 Votes
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spazzcat
110 months ago

A staggeringly large number!


Yet to think this is a market niche that Apple made, 68% seems kinda low.


But then again, 68% is a massive number.


There is nothing niche about this market. Everyone and their grandma is getting a tablet.
Rating: 3 Votes
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lsvtecjohn3
110 months ago

Didn't Apple hold something like 90%+ of the market in the last quarters of 2010 ? http://www.businessinsider.com/ipad-share-2011-3. The 65% market share figure is from Q2 2010, the quarter where the iPad was introduced (so they didn't have a full quarter of sales, and shipments are never as big for new products than established ones).

It seems like being back to 68% is a sharp decline for Apple from their results in Q3 and Q4 of 2010. This means what we all knew would happen : The tablet market will be a competitive arena after all where all OSes/platforms get a chance to catch the consumer's eye.



You might want to go back and read this article and the link you posted. This article is about units shipped and added eReaders. The link you posted talks about market share of sold tablets. Apple does have a 90% markert share of the tablet market.
Rating: 3 Votes

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