Android finally surged ahead of Apple in tablet sales over the course of 2013, with a 127 percent increase in sales worldwide. Nonetheless, Apple is still the most popular tablet vendor, with its iPads as bestsellers in the very crowded tablet market.
Android tablet sales rose 61.9 percent in 2013, as vendors sold 120.9 million tablets. In 2012, only 53.3 million Android tablets were sold and Google’s OS only held a 45.8 percent market share that year. Android-based tablets gained a lot of ground against the iPad with cheaper offerings for customers who aren’t interested in paying the premium price of an iPad or iPad Mini.
"In 2013, tablets became a mainstream phenomenon, with a vast choice of Android-based tablets being within the budget of mainstream consumers while still offering adequate specifications," Gartner research director Roberta Cozza said in a statement.
Android also holds the advantage in terms of the sheer number of different manufacturers and different tablet options it offers. Apple only sells a few different versions of the iPad and iPad Mini, so its offerings are somewhat limited.
Still, Apple sold an impressive 70.4 million tablets and retained 36 percent of the market share in 2013. Although Apple lost the great tablet race to Android in terms of overall sales, it still reigns supreme as the most popular individual tablet vendor with 37.4 million in iPad sales and a market share of 19.1 percent.
The only company that can even hold a candle to Apple’s success is, of course, Samsung. In 2013, Samsung sold 37.4 million tablets and claimed 19.1 percent of the tablet market. ASUS came in a distant third with 11 million tablets sold and a measly 5.6 percent market share.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Windows 8 OS fared pretty well in the great tablet wars, considering the difficulty it has had getting off the ground. Around 4 million Windows 8 tablets were sold in 2013 and Microsoft’s OS took 2.1 percent of the market.
Even though these results still leave a lot to be desired for Microsoft, the company is off to a good start. Once Microsoft works out some of the kinks in Windows 8, sales should increase. Many users are also looking forward to Windows 9, which could offer an entirely new and improved design.
Overall tablet sales increased 68 percent to 195.4 million in 2013, proving that the tablet is here to stay.
