iPad Grabs 58% of Tablet Shipments in 4Q 2011

Research firm Strategy Analytics today announced the results of its calculations of worldwide tablet shipments during the fourth quarter of 2011, revealing that Apple continues to hold a majority of the market as Android improves its standing on the strength of Amazon's Kindle Fire.

Peter King, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global tablet shipments reached an all-time high of 26.8 million units in Q4 2011, surging 150 percent from 10.7 million in Q4 2010. Demand for tablets among consumer, business and education users remains strong. Apple shipped a robust 15.4 million iPads worldwide and maintained its strong market leadership with 58 percent share during the fourth quarter of 2011. Apple shrugged off the much-hyped threat from entry-level Android models this quarter.”

Despite strong growth in shipment share for Android, Apple's share is down less than four percentage points since the firm's estimates for the second quarter of last year. Android's other gains appear to have come at the expense of Microsoft and Research in Motion, which registered at 4.6% and 3.3% respectively during the second quarter.

strategy analytics 4q11 tablets
The relevance of Strategy Analytics' numbers have been questioned in the past due to its counting of shipments rather than end sales to customers. With many early Android tablets seeing little interest from consumers, the firm's reports were seen as overstating Android's impact by counting Android tablets still sitting on store shelves while Apple was selling nearly every iPad it could make. It is unclear whether that dynamic has changed with the introduction of the Kindle Fire, which has reportedly seen fairly strong adoption and which may have lower channel inventory needs due to Amazon's heavy emphasis on distribution through its own website.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Neutral)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....

Top Rated Comments

chrmjenkins Avatar
181 months ago
I'm surprised MS has such a slim part of the market.

...no, really.

OK, not really.
Who would think otherwise? They don't even have a tablet OS. Windows 8 isn't out yet. Until then, windows doesn't even run on ARM.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
markm49uk Avatar
181 months ago
Stop giving these analysts coverage

This research, like most of the research these analysts publish, is so full of holes it's untrue.

You CANNOT compare sold vs shipped figures - jesus I am so sick of saying the same thing over and over again.

Real world experience says that Apple's tablet share is much, much higher - I've seen lots of iPads around but haven't seen any Android based tablets.

Grrrr...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StealthGhost Avatar
181 months ago
Despite strong growth in shipment share for Android, Apple's share is down less than four percentage points since the firm's estimates for the second quarter of last year. Android's other gains appear to have come at the expense of Microsoft and Research in Motion, which registered at 4.6% and 3.3% respectively during the second quarter.

Dahhhh, Q4 2010 to Q4 2011, the graph YOU GUYS show, states 10.6% LOSS for Apple and 10.1% GAIN for Android yet you claim Android is stealing from Microsoft who GAINED 1.5%. Where is this 4.6% coming from? I must be missing something.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thenerdal Avatar
181 months ago
"Linux" is freely licensed for the most part. "Firefox", like "Android" is not. Google has specific requirements for any use of the Android trademark, which devices such as the Kindle Fire do not meet.

http://source.android.com/faqs.html#what-does-compatibility-mean

The requirements are only for companies that want to use the trademark, not the OS itself. For instance, if a company wants to advertise their tablet as running Android, then they have to meet those requirements. If they don't want to, like Amazon, they don't have to meet them. They can still use Android as their OS.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Feed Me Avatar
181 months ago
Relax there buddy - the other chart which I am referring to is MARKETSHARE not shipped or sold.
It's market share based on shipped units, not actual sales, so it's still a bit meaningless.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0dev Avatar
181 months ago
Yeah the Fire pushed up the Android shipments. It's all good, Android's a decent OS and even if you're iOS faithful, competition is good to make sure the iPad 3 is as good as it can be :)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)