Apple's Tablet Marketshare Drops Below 40% in Q1 2013

Apple's tablet marketshare continues to drop as its rival introduce a slew of competing products, according to the latest data from IDC. However, the report indicates that shipments were higher than expected.

Apple outperformed IDC's most recent projections for the quarter, shipping 19.5 million units compared to a forecast of 18.7 million units. The company, which historically has experienced a steep drop off in first quarter shipments (following strong holiday sales in the fourth quarter), saw some smoothing of that seasonality this year. Number two vendor Samsung also performed above expectations and managed to grow its shipments over the fourth quarter as more of the company's smaller-sized tablets began to gain traction in the market. Samsung has also used its recent Android smartphone growth to help bring its tablet product line into new markets and channels, leveraging the opportunity to package and bundle. The strong performance of the two market leaders helped drive total shipments to an impressive 49.2 million units for the quarter.

"Sustained demand for the iPad mini and increasingly strong commercial shipments led to a better-than expected first quarter for Apple," said Tom Mainelli, Research Director, Tablets at IDC. "In addition, by moving the iPad launch to the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple seems to have avoided the typical first-quarter slowdown that traditionally occurred when consumers held off buying in January and February in anticipation of a new product launch in March."


Worldwide tablet shipments increased 142.4% year over year with 49.2 million unites estimated to have shipped in Q1. Microsoft shipped 900,000 units in Q1 breaking into the top five for the first time.

Read More [via MacRumors]