Research firm IDC today announced its preliminary estimates of worldwide tablet shipments for the first quarter of 2013, finding that Apple's share of the market continues to slide as competitors begin to gain footholds in the market, although the firm notes that Apple did exceed expectations. Apple held a 39.6% share of the market for quarter, compared to 43.6% in the previous quarter and a 58.2% share in the year-ago quarter.
Worldwide Tablet Shipments in 1Q13 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)
Apple outperformed IDC's most recent projections for the quarter, shipping 19.5 million units compared to a forecast of 18.7 million units. The company, which historically has experienced a steep drop off in first quarter shipments (following strong holiday sales in the fourth quarter), saw some smoothing of that seasonality this year. [...]
"Sustained demand for the iPad mini and increasingly strong commercial shipments led to a better-than expected first quarter for Apple," said Tom Mainelli, Research Director, Tablets at IDC. "In addition, by moving the iPad launch to the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple seems to have avoided the typical first-quarter slowdown that traditionally occurred when consumers held off buying in January and February in anticipation of a new product launch in March."
Samsung and Asus in particular saw strong performances during the quarter, with each seeing year-over-year shipment increases in excess of 250% compared to Apple's 65% growth. Still, Apple's share of the market is more than double that of second-place Samsung. In looking at operating systems, Android now outships iOS, with Android taking 56.5% of the market and iOS taking just under 40%.
It is important to note that IDC's numbers track shipments instead of sales, and thus how many shipped devices are making their way into consumers' hands remains unclear. IDC's figures are also estimates, as a number of companies do not release their exact shipment data and thus research firms must rely on supply chain data and calculations from information that is made public by manufacturers to build their estimates.
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Apple provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming iOS 26.2 update, and there are still new features that are being added with each beta that we get. We've rounded up all of the changes that Apple made in beta 3.
AirDrop
Apple added new AirDrop functionality, providing a way for two people to share files temporarily without having to add one another as contacts.
iOS 26.2...
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Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times.
The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said.
While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
Apple today announced an expansion of AppleCare+ coverage in India, with new options for monthly and annual plans, and the addition of Theft and Loss for iPhone for the first time.
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We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
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Starting this Wednesday, November 19, the feature will be available to residents of Illinois.
The announcement confirmed that the...
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iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
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Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio.
MacBook Air (Early 2026)
The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
Sunday November 16, 2025 6:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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As noted by Gurman, this would be a stunning reversal for Tesla and its CEO Elon ...
Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account.
In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
there is a reason why we see others tablets being blown out on discount sites - they sit on shelves and collect dust. you don't see that with iPads....not at the same levels. shipment numbers don't matter - units in hands do...
I wish they would show actual sales... shipments mean nothing... everyone can ship as many as they like... are people buying is the question?
This is getting old. The first generation of Android tablets were overpriced and unfinished. Shipping sizes were a few 100k, not millions, and many of those were indeed sold with large discounts.
However today Android tablets are competitive in price and offer a decent software package (whether it is as good as iOS is debatable). There are NOT 8 million Samsung tablets sitting on the shelves, nor Kindle Fire's or Nexus 7 (the Asus number). Margins are certainly lower than for iPads, but Android tablets are in business now.
there is a reason why we see others tablets being blown out on discount sites - they sit on shelves and collect dust. you don't see that with iPads....not at the same levels. shipment numbers don't matter - units in hands do...
Shipped units aren't the whole story, but it is still an indicator of popularity. A company can't just ship out 50,000,000 units and claim they've made the best selling product ever, because after awhile, it'd end up costing them far more than they're making, and stores would quit accepting them.
Shipped units doesn't give you the exact number of how many people are using your product, but if you're shipping more month after month, you're likely selling more.
Why does MR continue to report this crap that isn't based off shipment data from OEMs (well, except for Apple) but estimates based on who the heck knows what. :rolleyes:
Because that's the only data that is available. It's the best data we have.
To those spreading FUD like "shipments are not sales" and "I only see iPads around and never Android tablets" - remember how you did the same thing with phone sale numbers? Not so much anymore. Everybody knows now that Android phones outsell iPhone b a wide margin. It's only a matter of time before the same happens for tablets. In the mean time enjoy your lunacies :D
