Apple iPad is still the leading tablet among the five key players in the tablet industry, based on preliminary data released on May 1 by the International Data Corporation (IDC) for its Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.
Record shows that Apple shipped about 16.4 million of iPad units, although it's nearly a half cut from its 26 million units shipped in the previous quarter and clearly below the 19.5 million of units shipped in the first quarter of 2013. As expected, its market share also slipped down a little bit from 33.2 percent last quarter to 32.5 percent at present quarter.
Its CEO Tim Cook earlier admits the figures were similar to the own estimates of the company and pointed the decline of iPad shipments to channel inventory changes.
"That doesn't mean that every quarter, every 90 days is going to be a number that everybody's thrilled with," he says to the Wall Street Journal in a conference call.
Meanwhile, its biggest rival Samsung grew its market share worldwide, from 17.2 percent in the previous quarter to 22.3 percent at present quarter. The company has been very aggressive with working and partnering with wireless carriers by offering smartphone bundles seen to drive more shipments of their tablets.
"With roughly two-thirds share, Android continues to dominate the market," tracker's research analyst Jitesh Ubrani says in a statement.
The three remaining tablet vendors in the competition are ASUS at five percent market share, Lenovo at 4.1 percent and Amazon at 1.9 percent.
The IDC data, however, indicates a decline in the worldwide shipments of 2-in-1 tablets. In the first quarter of the year, shipments fell to 50.4 millions, which is said to be a drop of -35.7 percent from a high-volume shipment during the holiday quarter and a 3.9 growth during the same period more than a year ago.
An IDC executive points to what could be affecting the decline in tablet shipments as of late: the growing production of phablets or phones with the screen of tablets.
"The rise of large-screen phones and consumers who are holding on to their existing tablets for ever longer periods of time were both contributing factors to a weaker-than-anticipated quarter for tablets and 2-in-1s," says Tom Mainelli, who is the IDC program vice president, Devices and Displays. "In addition, commercial growth has not been robust enough to offset the slowing of consumer shipments."
Who could blame consumers shifting to phablets, given the reasonable costs set for a device with dual purpose and the portability it offers. Market analysts, in fact, say the blurring thin line between tablets and phablets may continue as technology keeps on innovating.
