By Billy Crosby
Worldwide shipments of tablets rose 60% in the second quarter
from a year earlier, despite no new products being released by any
of the major tech companies, while volumes slowed sequentially,
according to industry watcher International Data Corp.
For the latest quarter, 45.1 million units were shipped in
total, up from 28.3 million a year earlier, but down from 49.2
million in the previous quarter.
Shipments of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPad fell 14% from the year
earlier to 14.6 million, below the research company's predictions.
In previous years, Apple has released a new tablet in the second
quarter, but this year, the company is expected to launch new
tablet products in the second half of the year, IDC said.
"With no new iPads, the market slowed for many vendors, and
that's likely to continue into the third quarter. However, by the
fourth quarter we expect new products from Apple, Amazon, and
others to drive impressive growth in the market," said research
director Tom Mainelli.
Apple's market share decreased to 32.4%, compared with 60.3% a
year ago.
"Apple aside, the remaining vendors are still very much figuring
out which platform strategy will be successful over the long run,"
said Ryan Reith, program manager for IDC's mobility tracker
programs. "To date, Android has been far more successful than the
Windows 8 platform. However, Microsoft-fueled products are starting
to make notable progress into the market."
In second place, Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNHY) saw shipments
almost triple, shipping 8.1 million units compared with 2.1 million
a year earlier, to grab 16% of the market--up from 7.6% last
year.
No. 3 ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (ASUS) shipped 2 million units, more
than doubling its shipments from last year to grab 4.5% of the
market share.
PC stalwarts Lenovo Group Ltd. and Acer Inc. both re-entered the
top five this quarter.
Lenovo shipped more than double what it did last year to 1.5
million units to grab 3.3% of the market. Acer's shipments also
more than doubled to 1.4 million to grab a 3.1% market share.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) failed to make the top five.
Write to Billy Crosby at William.Crosby@wsj.com
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