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According to a new report from research firm IDC, tablets running Google's Android operating system are poised to overtake the iPad during the course of 2013.

A surge of low cost Android-based tablets has prompted IDC to forecast worldwide tablet shipments of 190.9 million, an increase from its previous estimate of 172.4 million.

48.8% of those are expected to run Google's operating system, giving Android the plurality of the tablet marketshare by the end of the year. In comparison, Apple is expected to retain just 46% of the tablet market, while Windows and Windows RT will make up 4.7% of overall tablet shipments.

idcestimates.jpg
In 2012, Apple's share of the market was 51% while Android's was just 41.5%.
"One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8 inches in screen size. And in terms of shipments, we expect smaller tablets to continue growing in 2013 and beyond," said Jitesh Ubrani, Research Analyst for IDC's Tablet Tracker.

"Vendors are moving quickly to compete in this space as consumers realize that these small devices are often more ideal than larger tablets for their daily consumption habits."
By 2017, IDC forecasts that Android will have 46% of the market with Apple falling further behind with 43.5%. It is important to note that IDC's estimates are based on shipments rather than sales. Android's larger share of low cost tablet shipments may not translate into greater direct consumer sales.

IDC's newest report corroborates its January findings, where Apple's share of the market slipped to 43.6% in the fourth quarter of 2012, a significant decrease from its 51.7% share in the fourth quarter of 2011 despite increased iPad shipments overall.

Article Link: IDC Predicts Android Tablet Shipments Will Overtake iPad Shipments in 2013
 

Simmenfl

macrumors newbie
Oct 26, 2012
4
0
Yeah certainly able to predict the year 2017... thats just like 3 years and 9 months from now.

3 years and 9 months ago, the Tablet industry didnt even exist. Predicting what the tech market will be like in such a huge timeframe is ridiculous stupid.
 

Mackilroy

macrumors 68040
Jun 29, 2006
3,906
539
Given that Apple is the sole developer of iOS devices while there are multiple Android devs, isn't this article basically saying, "More companies will inevitably outproduce one."?
 

HockeyMike

macrumors newbie
Mar 6, 2013
8
0
Yeah certainly able to predict the year 2017... thats just like 3 years and 9 months from now.

3 years and 9 months ago, the Tablet industry didnt even exist. Predicting what the tech market will be like in such a huge timeframe is ridiculous stupid.

Totally agree! So called "research" companies often guess at what the future could be, and often are wrong.
 

notabadname

macrumors 68000
Jan 4, 2010
1,566
736
Detroit Suburbs
Again, they compare a hardware maker to generally, a software maker. No singe manufacturer of Tablets is anywhere close to overtaking Apple's market position in Tablet sales. Why they continue to compare and place such value on all manufacturers of Android tablets versus a single manufacturer of Apple iOS Tablets is beyond me.

To me, it is like comparing BMW's market share versus all other car manufacturers. We would only compare BMW to Lexus, or to Accura etc.
 

applesith

macrumors 68030
Jun 11, 2007
2,775
1,570
Manhattan
This is so stupid. Projecting tablet market in for 4 years? And it assumes pretty constant landscape. Why are we even bothering looking at this?
 

norisq

macrumors newbie
Mar 5, 2013
16
0
2017? Really?

There might be a whole new product line that doesn't even exist right now.
Maybe google glasses, what do we know?

When a life circle of a product in the electronis industry is like 1 year, 4 years is like way too much to predict.
 

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
Shipments.....lol.....so funny.

Lets go by sales and profits.

And 2017?

By then tablets might be a thing of the past and something completely new has taken over.

These research companies just pull stuff out of their collective you know whats.
 

Benjamins

macrumors 6502a
Jul 15, 2010
668
137
The fact that Apple could hold on to the undisputed #1 spot for so long, despite the significantly higher price, is pretty telling for the quality of other tablets.
 

HockeyMike

macrumors newbie
Mar 6, 2013
8
0
Android Tablets collect dust

My son has an iPad Mini, 2 of his friends have Android tablets. Both of his friends tablets collect dust in their bedrooms and they barely use them. My son uses his iPad Mini hourly, sometimes 6-8 hours out of a day. He has said his friends wish they had an iPad instead of the Android tablets. Apple makes the best hardware and eco-system, they will continue to dominate until the competitors make a better eco-system to go with the cheap hardware.
 

baryon

macrumors 68040
Oct 3, 2009
3,875
2,922
What about in 2100? I want to know what to invest in for the long term.

My son has an iPad Mini, 2 of his friends have Android tablets. Both of his friends tablets collect dust in their bedrooms and they barely use them. My son uses his iPad Mini hourly, sometimes 6-8 hours out of a day. He has said his friends wish they had an iPad instead of the Android tablets. Apple makes the best hardware and eco-system, they will continue to dominate until the competitors make a better eco-system to go with the cheap hardware.

I know many people who bought an Android tablet because it was a bit cheaper than an iPad. Then it turned out it's unusable, slow, bad battery life, bad screen, etc… and they ended up returning it or just buying an iPad instead. All those cheap tablets simply can't be that good quality, but a lot of people do buy them since they're cheaper and "have the same features" (i.e. are black rectangles with internet connectivity). They're a bit like the netbooks of the tablet world.
 

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
My son has an iPad Mini, 2 of his friends have Android tablets. Both of his friends tablets collect dust in their bedrooms and they barely use them. My son uses his iPad Mini hourly, sometimes 6-8 hours out of a day. He has said his friends wish they had an iPad instead of the Android tablets. Apple makes the best hardware and eco-system, they will continue to dominate until the competitors make a better eco-system to go with the cheap hardware.

Yep, my friends kids have 2 android tablets they got for xmas. They sit around collecting dust while the kids try to grab their parents iPhones.
 

Johnny Vegas

macrumors member
Jul 7, 2011
65
124
I had no idea the numbers were that close in 2012. I thought apple was crushing all competition in the tablet market. :confused:
 

samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
I think the responses are funny.

If the report said that Apple would keep/increase their lead - people wouldn't take issue with the report. At least most wouldn't.

But I agree - anything can and will happen in the next few years. But given the growth of Android and that tablets are offered in various sizes and manufacturers - the idea that marketshare will lean in favor of Android isn't surprising. Nor does it really mean anything in and of itself. It's only one important factor in the scheme of things.
 

Tankmaze

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2012
1,707
351
Well the iPad start at 100% market share in 2010, lower market share doesn't mean lower sales.

But yea, the cheap android tablet could take off. I am thinking in buying acer iconia for $150 for second tablet device in the house.
 
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