Following up on its release of smartphone data, IDC has published numbers on tablet shipments and marketshare for the fourth quarter of 2013. Apple’s iPad saw shipments grow from 22.9 million to 26 million year-over-year, but lost marketshare, sliding from 38.2 percent to 33.8. This appears to have primarily benefited Samsung, which grew its share from 13 percent to 18.8, based on a unit increase from 7.8 million to 14.5 million.
Another beneficiary was Lenovo, which advanced its share from 1.3 percent to 4.4 on a unit surge from 0.8 million to 3.4 million. Asus’ share held flat at 5.1 percent, despite shipments rising from 3.1 to 3.9 million. Amazon lost both shipments and share, which dipped from 5.9 million and 9.9 percent to 5.8 million and 7.6 percent, respectively.
The iPad has come under pressure from Android tablets, which are typically cheaper, and in recent years have improved substantially in terms of hardware features and software support. Apple has responded in the form of the iPad mini, and the company still has a significant edge in the quantity and quality of available apps. Shipment numbers do not automatically equate to end-user sales, and user-engagement studies typically show the iPad far ahead of rivals, averaging around 80 percent all tablet web browsing
