Apple's Share of Worldwide Tablet Shipments Slips to 43.6% in 4Q 2012

[MacRumors]

Research firm IDC today announced its preliminary estimates of worldwide tablet shipments for the fourth quarter of 2012, finding that Apple's share of the market slipped to 43.6% even as the iPad mini drove a nearly 50% growth in units for the company. Apple had held a 50.4% share in the previous quarter and a 51.7% share in the year-ago quarter.

"We expected a very strong fourth quarter, and the market didn't disappoint," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Tablets, at IDC. "New product launches from the category's top vendors, as well as new entrant Microsoft, led to a surge in consumer interest and very robust shipments totals during the holiday season. The record-breaking quarter stands in stark contrast to the PC market, which saw shipments decline during the quarter for the first time in more than five years."

Apple's iPad once again led the market, and the firm's shipment total of 22.9 million units was exactly in line with IDC's forecast for the period. A strong iPad mini launch, plus availability of the fourth generation full-sized iPad, led to solid 48.1% shipment growth over the same quarter last year. However, strong competition in the market led to Apple's market share declining for a second quarter in a row (down to 43.6% from 46.4% last quarter).

Samsung and Asus were the biggest winners in the surging tablet market, with Samsung seeing 263% year-over-year growth to seize 15% of the market. Samsung's share was, however, down from 18.4% in the third quarter.

IDC notes that Microsoft did not qualify for the top five vendors in the fourth quarter, but the company did ship 900,000 units of its Surface tablet with Windows RT. It remains to be seen, however, whether those shipments and the upcoming Surface Pro tablet will translate into strong sales for the company.

Article Link: Apple's Share of Worldwide Tablet Shipments Slips to 43.6% in 4Q 2012

[SSD-GUY]

The end is nigh.

[samcraig]

In with "Who cares about Marketshare - Apple makes the most profits" comment

[hayesk]

Originally Posted by samcraig

In with "Who cares about Marketshare - Apple makes the most profits" comment

You forgot "but only Apple reports sales to end users. Shipments are stuck in the retail channel."

Seriously though, if the point of the study is to show Apple is becoming less of a dominant player, both of those comments are legitimate criticisms. Time for the other companies to grow up and stop deceiving us with BS "shipment" numbers.

[webbuzz]

Originally Posted by hayesk

You forgot "but only Apple reports sales to end users. Shipments are stuck in the retail channel."

Seriously though, if the point of the study is to show Apple is becoming less of a dominant player, both of those comments are legitimate criticisms. Time for the other companies to grow up and stop deceiving us with BS "shipment" numbers.

I couldn't agree with this more. You would be amazed at the excess inventory of handsets and tablets that Best Buy, carriers, and other national retailers have on a quarterly basis.

[Ryth]

Originally Posted by hayesk

You forgot "but only Apple reports sales to end users. Shipments are stuck in the retail channel."

Seriously though, if the point of the study is to show Apple is becoming less of a dominant player, both of those comments are legitimate criticisms. Time for the other companies to grow up and stop deceiving us with BS "shipment" numbers.

I'd like to see whatever 'commission' on Wall Street require for investors end units 'sold' to customers vs 'shipped'...this shipped vs sold is just too deceiving.

They can still report 'shipped' all they want...but they must also report 'sold' to consumer also.

Shipped is such a deceiving metric...look no further then the HP Touchpad. 750K-Million shipped...20K sold before the firesale.

[WilliamLondon]

Originally Posted by Ryth

I'd like to see whatever 'commission' on Wall Street require for investors end units 'sold' to customers vs 'shipped'...this shipped vs sold is just too deceiving.

They can still report 'shipped' all they want...but they must also report 'sold' to consumer also.

Shipped is such a deceiving metric...look no further then the HP Touchpad. 750K-Million shipped...20K sold before the firesale.

Yes, companies can be deceptive with these numbers, but the problem is that in a channel model when you ship to a partner who sells to the end user (or perhaps first to a distributor who then sells to a retailer who then sells to an end user), unless you've stipulated they report to you their sales figures (that's not something they are always willing to do, because it's corporate sales data, and sometimes they won't know because they ship it to retailers who don't necessarily report data back to them) you might not have any idea what "sell through" is, but only what "sell in" is (sold vs. shipped). And then there are those companies who report no sales unit figures and these poor analysts are supposed to extrapolate from a lot of other data they must obtain and analyse separately, just so we can all discuss who has the biggest share of the pie.

[Ryth]

Originally Posted by WilliamLondon

Yes, companies can be deceptive with these numbers, but the problem is that in a channel model when you ship to a partner who sells to the end user (or perhaps first to a distributor who then sells to a retailer who then sells to an end user), unless you've stipulated they report to you their sales figures (that's not something they are always willing to do, because it's corporate sales data, and sometimes they won't know because they ship it to retailers who don't necessarily report data back to them) you might not have any idea what "sell through" is, but only what "sell in" is (sold vs. shipped). And then there are those companies who report no sales unit figures and these poor analysts are supposed to extrapolate from a lot of other data they must obtain and analyse separately, just so we can all discuss who has the biggest share of the pie.

I think it needs to be a requirement that the end channels report back to the distributor....

OR

That 'shipped units returned' be reported.

[Michael Scrip]

Originally Posted by samcraig

In with "Who cares about Marketshare - Apple makes the most profits" comment

Originally Posted by hayesk

You forgot "but only Apple reports sales to end users. Shipments are stuck in the retail channel."

Seriously though, if the point of the study is to show Apple is becoming less of a dominant player, both of those comments are legitimate criticisms. Time for the other companies to grow up and stop deceiving us with BS "shipment" numbers.

So what is the result of Android having all that market share?

Right now... Android has 5 TIMES the smartphone market share of the iPhone. Yet the iPhone is as strong as ever. More developers still prefer developing for the iPhone... despite its tiny share of the market.

You'd think with Android at 75% of the market... developers would be all over it. Are they?

So what is the prize Android gets for being the leader in market share?

Is it just being able to say they are #1 ?

I haven't seen Android turn that lead into anything useful.

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by Michael Scrip

So what is the result of Android having all that market share?

"Its the ecosystem, stupid."

Apple used to have a 5 year lead over all other cellphone manufacturers. But that was somewhat more than 5 years ago.

[Michael Scrip]

Originally Posted by iGrip

"Its the ecosystem, stupid."

Hmmmm.... so since Android has 5 TIMES the smartphone market share of the iPhone.... developers must prefer Android, right?

Not that I've seen.

Ah... so maybe accessory makers are now throwing themselves at Android's 75% market share.

I haven't seen that either... far from it actually.

Ok... well then the Google Play Music Store must the be largest retailer of online music. With Android phones having such a HUGE share of the market... they must be buying more music.

Nope.

Well crap. How about movies? There are zillions of Android devices out there. They gotta be renting more movies.

Not even close. iTunes has 45% of the online rental market... with Amazon a distant 18%... (Google isn't even listed)


What was that about Android's ecosystem? And how their HUGE market share is somehow a benefit?

[CEmajr]

Originally Posted by Michael Scrip

So what is the result of Android having all that market share?

Right now... Android has 5 TIMES the smartphone market share of the iPhone. Yet the iPhone is as strong as ever. More developers still prefer developing for the iPhone... despite its tiny share of the market.

You'd think with Android at 75% of the market... developers would be all over it. Are they?

So what is the prize Android gets for being the leader in market share?

Is it just being able to say they are #1 ?

I haven't seen Android turn that lead into anything useful.

Spot on with this post. My thoughts exactly when it comes to Android's large marketshare.

[incubi26]

I love reading the responses on these forums. It's entertaining. There is brand loyalty and there is a cult following. Some of the responses are unfortunately of the latter. People shouldn't take things so seriously and look at things with an open mind. Don't give yourself an heart attack.

[tzeshan]

I think a more meaningful metric is comparing the total revenue of each manufacturer got from the tablets.

[3N16MA]

Originally Posted by samcraig

In with "Who cares about Marketshare - Apple makes the most profits" comment

Why have a problem with that statement when it's true? Anyone with common sense would have been able to see Apple would not be able to maintain their market share with an onslaught of new tablets being released from competitors. I'm sure Apple knew that they could not maintain that share and I doubt they're sweating it.

I find it hilarious that some people expect Apple to maintain some ridiculous % forever while competing against so many Android based tablets it's become hard to keep track of them all.

[the8thark]

Originally Posted by samcraig

In with "Who cares about Marketshare - Apple makes the most profits" comment

And this is all that matters to a smart business.

[samcraig]

Originally Posted by the8thark

And this is all that matters to a smart business.

No argument. My snark comment was based on common responses in this forum. Not reality.

[the8thark]

Originally Posted by samcraig

No argument. My snark comment was based on common responses in this forum. Not reality.

I see I see. It all makes sense now. Thank you.

[abhishake]

Samsung the new Apple?

^at least a few articles with that title are about to be written.

[AustinIllini]

I still love my iPad...?

[Intarweb]

Good. Make the stock slip more so I can get in at a reasonable level.

[monkor]

I used to not really see the point in the 10-inch tablet, but then I bought an Asus Transformer along with the keyboard dock. There's innovation to be had in the tablet arena, and these hybrid "convertible" kind of tablets may well be the future. Asus is selling them quite well. I can use the thing heavily and still have plenty of battery life left thanks to there being two batteries in the dock itself and the tablet. It's crazy, but it has all but replaced my laptop.

I used to scoff at the idea, but I'd love it if Apple had some type of keyboard addition just to shake things up. The iPad with a keyboard dock that very, very easily attaches and detaches would be incredibly potent..

[BC2009]

IDC exaggerating Samsung's performance again in their estimates.

Never mind what Apple did, Asus makes the Nexus 7. Amazon makes the Kindle tablets. Now ask yourself how many Galaxy Tabs you have seen in people's hands compared to Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire. Galaxy Tabs sell at two and three times the price of the Nexus 7 and Kindle.

iPads are everywhere. I went to Disneyland for New Years and people were standing in line for rides playing with iPads. It floored me. I asked one couple about it and they were from Australia. They said it was their cheapest way to get internet connectivity. Another couple I saw did not speak English -- they were from China and their iPad min was displaying everything in Chinese.

I did not see any Kindles or Nexus 7 tablets at Disneyland - and certainly no Galaxy Tabs. This could have been because Kindle and Nexus 7 simply don't have cellular connectivity at the low-end prices at which they normally sell, but I have seen plenty of those tablets out and about in other places since people use them for reading. I never see a Galaxy Tab. In fact, the last time I saw a Galaxy Tab that was not on a store shelf or being offered as a free promotion with a Samsung TV was over a year ago.

There is no way Galaxy Tab is out-selling the Nexus 7 or Amazon Kindle Fire. These estimates for Samsung are insanely high. Even Android fans attest to the Nexus 7 being the most popular Android tablet.

[AaronEdwards]

Originally Posted by BC2009

IDC exaggerating Samsung's performance again in their estimates.

Never mind what Apple did, Asus makes the Nexus 7. Amazon makes the Kindle tablets. Now ask yourself how many Galaxy Tabs you have seen in people's hands compared to Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire. Galaxy Tabs sell at two and three times the price of the Nexus 7 and Kindle.

iPads are everywhere. I went to Disneyland for New Years and people were standing in line for rides playing with iPads. It floored me. I asked one couple about it and they were from Australia. They said it was their cheapest way to get internet connectivity. Another couple I saw did not speak English -- they were from China and their iPad min was displaying everything in Chinese.

I did not see any Kindles or Nexus 7 tablets at Disneyland - and certainly no Galaxy Tabs. This could have been because Kindle and Nexus 7 simply don't have cellular connectivity at the low-end prices at which they normally sell, but I have seen plenty of those tablets out and about in other places since people use them for reading. I never see a Galaxy Tab. In fact, the last time I saw a Galaxy Tab that was not on a store shelf or being offered as a free promotion with a Samsung TV was over a year ago.

There is no way Galaxy Tab is out-selling the Nexus 7 or Amazon Kindle Fire. These estimates for Samsung are insanely high. Even Android fans attest to the Nexus 7 being the most popular Android tablet.

Did you notice that this are worldwide tablet shipments? What you see or not see is, even if you travel around a lot, worthless. (If you travel around a lot it would still only be anecdotal evidence, thus still worthless.)

Edit:

This must be mostly outside of the US, because I rarely see a non-iPad in the wild. I have dozens of friends with tablets, and I would say maybe 3-4 have non-iPads. I have a hard time believing these numbers, but certainly in the US, it's far higher than 43.6%.

More, worthless, anecdotal evidence.

[BC2009]

Originally Posted by AaronEdwards

Did you notice that this are worldwide tablet shipments? What you see or not see is, even if you travel around a lot, worthless. (If you travel around a lot it would still only be anecdotal evidence, thus still worthless.)

Yes I realize these are worldwide tablet shipments. Do you think the Nexus 7 with its incredibly low price is only sold in the USA? Do you think it was only people in the USA who got excited about the Nexus 7? Asus is based in Taiwan and they have a presence in over 30 countries. They are building this tablet and selling it with Google all over the world. They were selling them at a rate over a million per month several months ago. Is their any reason to believe that would not have increased for the holiday season?

You're right... my assessment is about as worthless as IDC's assessment. But that was my point. Anybody can throw numbers out. Samsung is not announcing quarterly unit sales, so why is IDC making the number up? IDC's report is nothing more than their best guess. When was the last time you saw an analyst be wrong? You don't have to go very far back in your memory to figure that out. Any company that reports actual numbers shows just how wrong analysts can be every quarter.

Even the folks at CNN Money / Fortune seem to agree with me that IDC is pulling numbers out of their butts: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/01/...ket-share-idc/

They even point out where the report is internally inconsistent.