Tablet shipments have experienced their first year-on-year decline in the fourth quarter of 2014.
While the decline is rather small, at only 3.2 percent, it does show that companies are struggling to sell as many tablets as they might have hoped.
"Although Apple expanded its iPad lineup by keeping around older models and offering a lower entry price point of $249, it still wasn't enough to spur iPad sales given the excitement around the launch of the new iPhones," said Jitesh Ubrani, senior analyst for quarterly tablet tracker findings at IDC. "Meanwhile, Samsung's struggles continued as low-cost vendors are quickly proving that mid- to high-priced Android tablets simply aren't cut out for today's tablet market."
Both market leaders, Samsung and Apple, which are the two companies largely carrying the tablet industry, experienced drops in sales. Apple, which sold 26 million units in the fourth quarter of 2013, sold 21.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. It also saw a market share drop, from 33.1 percent to 28.1 percent.
Samsung saw a decline in tablet shipments from 13.5 million units to 11 million, with a drop in market share from 17.2 percent to 14.5 percent.
Amazon's Kindle Fire line suffered perhaps the most, seeing a 69.9 percent drop in units shipped during the financial year. In the fourth quarter of 2013, the company sold 5.8 million units, only selling a measly 1.7 million units in 2014's fourth quarter.
Apple's sales were already known, with the company having released its financial results last week, saying that the company had seen a drop in tablet sales. The other companies, however, often don't like releasing their numbers, with analysts having to rely on estimates from companies like IDC.
One company did come out on top, with Lenovo posting a growth in tablet sales, from 3.4 million units to 3.7 million, representing a growth of 9.1 percent.
It is projected that Apple will remain the dominant tablet vendor in the near future, with Samsung also expected to remain in second place.
"The tablet market is still very top heavy in the sense that it relies mostly on Apple and Samsung to carry the market forward each year," continued IDC analyst Ubrani.
Tablets have seen quite the struggle in the past year, and for a number of reasons. Users tend not to upgrade tablets as quickly as they do their smartphone. Not only that, but those who are looking to upgrade often give or sell their old tablet to friends or relatives, further affecting sales.
