Almost two-thirds of the tablets shipped worldwide in the third quarter were Android devices, according to the latest data from IDC. Meanwhile the iPad had less than one-third of the tablet market. During the last year, the two operating systems have traded places in IDC’s rankings, with Android increasing its market share from 38% to 62.6% during the year, and iOS losing ground as its share fell from 60.3% to 32.5%.
Apple is still the leading tablet vendor. Even though the iPad no longer outsells all Android tablets combined, it still outsells every individual competitor. Apple sold 14.6 million tablets in the second quarter, down slightly from its sales in the previous quarter but still ahead of all other vendors.
The iPad also continues to set the pace for sales of all other tablets, according to IDC. The firm attributes an overall decline in tablet sales to the absence of a new iPad offering during the second quarter. “With no new iPads, the market slowed for many vendors, and that’s likely to continue into the third quarter,” said Tom Manielli, the firm’s research director for tablets. “However, by the fourth quarter we expect new products from Apple, Amazon, and others to drive impressive growth in the market.”
The firm reported that 45.1 million tablets shipped during the second quarter, down 9.7% from the first quarter, but up 59.6% from the second quarter of last year. The top five tablet vendors were Apple (14.6 million), Samsung (8.1 million), Asus (2 million), Lenovo (1.5 million) and Acer (1.4 million).
Microsoft did not make the top five, but 2 million Windows and Windows RT tablets were sold during the second quarter. In addition to Microsoft, Dell, Acer and Asus make Windows tablets. Windows increased its market share from 1% a year ago for 4% in the most recent quarter, but IDC notes that the platform has a long way to go. “To date, Android has been far more successful than the Windows 8 platform,” said Ryan Reith, program manager for IDC’s mobility tracker program. “However, Microsoft-fueled products are starting to make notable progress into the market.”
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