Following its mobile phone report earlier this week, research firm IDC has published its estimates of tablet shipments for the fourth quarter of 2013, showing that Apple continues to lead the market with roughly one-third of all shipments.
Worldwide tablet shipments in 4Q13 in millions of units (Source: IDC)
Apple's share of the market has generally declined over the past two years amid the proliferation of low-cost Android tablets, particularly unbranded "whitebox" devices in the Chinese market. The holiday quarter with refreshed iPads did, however, allow Apple to raise its share of the market to 33.8 percent from 29.7 percent in the previous quarter.
Apple once again led the worldwide market for tablets, shipping 26 million units during the quarter, up from 14.1 million the previous quarter and 22.9 million in 4Q12. While the quarter represented the company's most successful on record, its year-over-year growth of 13.5% was well below the industry average. The numbers bring into focus the challenges the company faces as it attempts to grow its tablet business in markets outside of its traditional mature-market strongholds and in the face of continued success from competitors both large and small.
Apple saw its worldwide tablet market share for the quarter grow to 33.8%, up from 29.7% in the third quarter but down from its 38.2% share in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Apple's iPad shipments (red) and share of worldwide tablet shipments (blue) for 2Q11–4Q13 (Source: IDC)
As always, 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 most companies do not release their exact tablet 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.
Thursday January 15, 2026 10:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another eight months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models, as of January 2026:
The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras
Under-screen Face ID...
Friday January 16, 2026 7:07 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to upgrade the iPad mini, MacBook Pro, iPad Air, iMac, and MacBook Air with OLED displays between 2026 and 2028, according to DigiTimes.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that the iPad mini and MacBook Pro will receive an OLED display as early as this year, but he does not expect the MacBook Air to adopt the technology until 2028 at the earliest.
A new iPad Air is...
Friday January 16, 2026 12:12 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future.
To set up the...
Sunday January 18, 2026 3:51 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 27 is still many months away, but there are already plenty of rumors about new features that will be included in the software update.
The first beta of iOS 27 will be released during WWDC 2026 in June, and the update should be released to all users with a compatible iPhone in September.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense...
Sunday January 18, 2026 6:50 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
MacBook Pro availability is tightening on Apple's online store, with select configurations facing up to a two-month delivery timeframe in the United States.
A few 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro configurations with an M4 Pro chip are not facing any shipping delay, but estimated delivery dates for many configurations with an M4 Max chip range from February 6 to February 24 or even later. At...
Yeah and around here there were all sorts of promotions going on Buy a Samsung phone and get a tablet for free by a Samsung TV and get a tablet for free sneeze and say "Samsung" at the same time and get a tablet for free. :)
This is a tired excuse.
Because NEVER has the iPhone 5s or 5c or 4s or 4 been offered for free. (http://www.idownloadblog.com/2014/01/02/best-buy-iphone-5s-125usd-iphone-5c-free/)
Or here. (http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/16/want-a-new-iphone-5s-or-32gb-5c-for-free-sprint-may-have-an-offer-you-cant-refuse/)
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...I've not see the other 66% in the wild. Not where I usually visit. Must be where I live?
It must be.
On college campuses, it's all iPads.
Everywhere else I travel, the coffee shop, various network TV stations, PEG TV stations, etc., it's all Android and Windows tablets.
Must be the area where I live. All I see are iPads, on planes, meetings, social events. Very few of the others.
Maybe it's shipped vs. sold & use.
The vast majority of tablets never go further than the home or car. Most are family consumption devices.
Shipped vs sold has been debunked thoroughly on this site. The majority of what people call Apple's "sold" number is in fact shipped. The only sales that Apple counts to end user are online, in Apple stores, and some education. So shipped vs sold is not a factor.
Must be the area where I live. All I see are iPads, on planes, meetings, social events. Very few of the others.
Maybe it's shipped vs. sold & use.
Yes. There are massive warehouses in the midwest where Samsung and others are storing tablets to make the market share numbers look better on macrumors.
Samsung starting to kick some butt in the tablet market! 85%!? Damn
Yeah and around here there were all sorts of promotions going on Buy a Samsung phone and get a tablet for free by a Samsung TV and get a tablet for free sneeze and say "Samsung" at the same time and get a tablet for free. :)
Not to say they don't have a good solution, but there was tons of promotions going on over the holidays that put a these in customers hands at a low to no cost. I wonder how much money they actually made in this segment?
I think I missed the part where competitors like Samsung actually announced their unit sales numbers.... oh wait, no I didn't, that never happened. All we know is that Samsung sold a total of 100M "Galaxy Devices" including low-end devices with the name "Galaxy" on them.
