IDC Predicts Android Tablet Shipments Will Overtake iPad Shipments in 2013

[iChrist]

Except that Android isn't a unified platform.

There were many versions of windows. Dell had their own install disks with their own laptop utilities and bloatware. Seems similar to Android.

Android is the competitor to iOS (iphone and ipad). Not ASUS. Without Android, Samsung would not be kicking a$$ in mobile computing.

 

[HMI]

I thought this happened in 2010

Android shipments:
China>US Company>Retailer Store Shelf>US Company>Recycle Program

iOS shipments:
China>US Customers


Obviously, Android has more shipments.

 

[Undecided]

I haven't owned an iPad yet but plan to get the next one, if it's slimmer like the iPad mini. I wonder how many other folks are thinking the same way.

 

[thehustleman]

That's a bit broad to claim it is the best PHONE OS. I would disagree with my experience with a Galaxy SIII. I found it to be cumbersome and lacking in organization. While it is more customizable than iOS without a jailbreak, it does leave a lot to be desired.

I disagree with you, I went from an iphone 4 to a galaxy s III.

So can you name 3 things am iphone can do that the galaxy S III can't?

 

[NewAnger]

Last month I bought a Nexus 4 phone and loved it. I then set out to buy a Nexus 7 tablet and haven't regretted it since. The iPad was never an option because of how limited it is in what I would use it for.

 

[convergent]

So they have half the market ... essentially the same as now... and will probably continue to have 95% of the profit for the whole market. I'm sure Apple is happy with those numbers.

 

[PracticalMac]

I been saying for YEARS Apple needs to jump into smaller tablet market, which was growing much faster then "full sized" units.

Now Amazon and Google are driving the price of tablet hardware down faster then Felix Baumgartner (360 mph straight down).

Is this a classic case of Too Little Too Late?
(more like Too Late, Too Expensive?)


Yes, a lot of nay sayers, but read the facts, iPad has lost market share (and don't give BS saying there are more tablet makers).
In 10" Class tablets Apple dominates, but add in all, it is about even.

It happened before, when "IBM Compatibles" made by dozens of companies sold well below what IBM, or Apple, sold for their machines. Apple only last few years turned it around, mainly becuase of iPod and iPhone.

ALSO, even if iOS is clearly better, a lot of people DON'T GIVE A ****, to them Android is "good enough".

 

[convergent]

So can you name 3 things am iphone can do that the galaxy S III can't?

- Run iOS apps... I have some that are only available on iOS that I use regularly.
- Easily sync things with my other Apple ecosys devices... iPad, Apple TV, etc. My wife takes pics on her iPad or iPhone and they are instantly in the other place. Might be possible to get some other app to do it with the GS3, but then I'd have to replace my whole ecosystem, which I'm not going to do since I'm quite happy with it.
- Fit comfortably in my pocket and my hand... been using smartphones since the early Palm and WinCE days, and had all different sizes... like the iPhone size and hope they don't go "big" to join the masses.

 

[thehustleman]

I been saying for YEARS Apple needs to jump into smaller tablet market, which was growing much faster then "full sized" units.

Now Amazon and Google are driving the price of tablet hardware down faster then Felix Baumgartner (360 mph straight down).

Is this a classic case of Too Little Too Late?
(more like Too Late, Too Expensive?)


Yes, a lot of nay sayers, but read the facts, iPad has lost market share (and don't give BS saying there are more tablet makers).
In 10" Class tablets Apple dominates, but add in all, it is about even.

It happened before, when "IBM Compatibles" made by dozens of companies sold well below what IBM, or Apple, sold for their machines. Apple only last few years turned it around, mainly becuase of iPod and iPhone.

ALSO, even if iOS is clearly better, a lot of people DON'T GIVE A ****, to them Android is "good enough".

In tablets, yes ipad is best only due to app development.

If the nexus 10 had some tablet optimized apps, it would dominate

 

[BaldiMac]

There were many versions of windows. Dell had their own install disks with their own laptop utilities and bloatware. Seems similar to Android.

Nope. Windows is and was a closed source OS. Dell's own install disks probably just contained Window bundled with Dell drivers and apps.

Android, on the other hand, is open source, so anyone can modify the OS and customize it for their own use. Most Android manufacturers agree to Google compatibility guidelines to maintain app compatibility. However, some (such as Amazon and popular Chinese variants) do not. Individual manufacturers adopt proprietary user interfaces to distinguish their individual versions.

For some reason, these different versions are all counted together. Even if they are not compatible with each other.

Android is the competitor to iOS (iphone and ipad). Not ASUS. Without Android, Samsung would not be kicking a$$ in mobile computing.

Sure, you can look at it that way. But that ignores my point.

 

[iScott428]

I buy a lot of things I do not use, none of which are Apple devices. Shipments vs Sales vs Usage. Apple dominates that match up every time.

 

[BaldiMac]

I been saying for YEARS Apple needs to jump into smaller tablet market, which was growing much faster then "full sized" units.

How many YEARS? The tablet market was only 2.5 years old when the iPad mini was released.

 

[tekboi]

Nooo



Okay u messed up

fixed.

 

[notabadname]

Dude, come on. ANOTHER car analogy?? And you can't even do it right.

Look, it's like comparing Mac to Windows. Many companies make Windows computers, but Apple has no issue comparing their Mac notebook sales to Windows machines as a whole. We are talking PLATFORMS. Get it?? Let that seep in.




.

Dude? Your maturity aside, your disagreement with my analogy does not make it incorrect. My point is exactly about platforms and the irrelevance of comparing a (primarily) hardware company to a software company (primarily) that makes software for every other manufacturer's hardware. So we end up with endless comparisons of essentially the sum of all other Hardware makers running that run Android versus Apple, simply for the fact they all can run Android and not iOS. If all hardware makers had a choice of either Apple iOS or Android OS, we could then logically compare which software distributor was winning in the competition to get their software on more devices. But it is a race that Apple is not running, they don't license their software to Samsung or others. They are trying to make profits by having the most successful hardware out there, so numbers saying that they are going to eventually lose ground to Android is misrepresentative of the business Apple is competing in, IMO. What they are doing against Samsung or Blackberry is far more relevant. Thus my analogy saying we don't measure the success of one car company as a percentage of all car companies, we instead measure each of their individual percentages of all market share against each other. And I think Apple hardware should be compared in the same fashion, their percent of the market versus Samsung's share, versus Blackberry's share, etc.

I understand disagreement. But the "dude" and rolling of the eyes do not make your opinion any more correct than mine.

 

[Liquorpuki]

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.

All these IDC guys do are stick every known variable in a simulation and project it 4 years out. They can't predict the emergence of disruptive tech (which changes everything obviously) but as far as factoring in what we do know about a company's financials, market position, trends, etc, it's a pretty objective forecast.

 

[somethingelsefl]

Granted, The Android tablets suck ass. But judging by the amount of time your son spends on his iPad, it sounds more like you are in need of parrenting advice, than his friends are in need of iPads. No offence intended.

If your kid is spending 6-8 hours a day on his iPad Mini then I think you need to be a lot less concerned about what tablets his friends play with and start worrying about your parenting skills. It's incredible you're even bragging about it.
Advice. Take his tablet away and give him a soccer ball.

What is this? PARENT RUMORS or MacRumors? Ugh.

 

[iapplelove]

I have yet to use an iOS device that I liked.

Great. You must love being on an all apple site 95% dedicated to idevices

 

[Bluefusion]

I disagree with you, I went from an iphone 4 to a galaxy s III.

So can you name 3 things am iphone can do that the galaxy S III can't?

This is SO remarkably shortsighted.

1) Rent movies and transfer them (including playback position) to other devices easily.
2) Not break when thrown on ground.
3) Get me through two or more days of usage.
4) Wirelessly backup my user and app data every day.
5) Run my iOS apps (which I think someone already said, but it's worth mentioning again)
6) Be counted on to NEVER hang, freeze, slow down or do anything stupid. Be efficient and effortless at all times and in all conditions of use.
7) Be upgradable to the newest OS on the day it's announced.
8) Allow me to text my friends for free without additional software or setup.
9) Allow me to listen to my voicemail messages out of order and in an organized way.

...Should I continue?

 

[osofast240sx]

Apple have been resting on their laurels (and blind loyalty of fans like I once was) for far too long, and competitors have caught up and in some places, overtaken! More importantly, Apple have lost a lot of mindshare with their fans; people like me, now a Windows Mobile user as I didn't see anything exciting enough in the iPhone 5 to make me upgrade from the 4. I also didn't like the fact Apple couldn't give me a retina iPad mini ... Knowing one WOULD be along soon to try and take more money from me. There are so many things that are destroying Apples mindshare; from big things like price and lack of Regina screens on iPad minis to simple things like lack of SD Slots. Not having these is just pure and simple greed on Apples part; and people have finally woken up to this in light of the great products competitors are now knocking out ... With great specs, great prices ..... and SD slots lol!

It's almost like u didn't read the article.

----------

Well seeing as Apple haven't brought anything 'new' (or exciting) to the market in the last 2-3 years (spec bumps don't count!), it isn't hard to forecast what they won't be doing in the next 2 or 3!!! ..... Unless they pull their fingers out their asses!!!!

We know what a smart phone looks like and we know what a tablet is now. What more do u want it to do? Just a lack of respect for technology! Why do u need to be excited about a material thing? It just needs to work. And that's what apple does best, they make their products work.

 

[Rogifan]

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.

Not sure what's funny about them. The report is silly. And even more silly is that its getting so much ink. Obviously if you have a half dozen or dozen companies selling tablets they'll probably outsell the iPad, especially if they're cheaper. The analysis should be who in the Android space will dominate. And can make any money off these tablets. Google and Amazon might be able to afford selling hardware at cost but can all these OEM's? They're clearly all in a race to the bottom price wise because there's nothing to really differentiate them. I guess they can all put their own skins on Android but don't most Android users prefer stock Android? What else does Asus, Acer, Sony, Lenovo, HP, etc. have to get someone to buy their version of an Android tablet other than theirs is the cheapest?

 

[Michael Scrip]

I had no idea the numbers were that close in 2012. I thought apple was crushing all competition in the tablet market.

There's more to the tablet market than just the sheer number of shipments (or sold or whatever)

Apple is "crushing it" in apps, development, customer satisfaction... and all the comments in this thread saying "I see Android tablets collecting dust" really enforce that.

There may be a lot of Android tablets out there... but the iPad is THE tablet.

 

[Rogifan]

Well seeing as Apple haven't brought anything 'new' (or exciting) to the market in the last 2-3 years (spec bumps don't count!), it isn't hard to forecast what they won't be doing in the next 2 or 3!!! ..... Unless they pull their fingers out their asses!!!!

What new and exciting stuff have we gotten with Android tablets? Stylus existed before the Samsung Galaxy Note. Honestly what's so innovative about the Kindle Fire HD or Nexus 7 as compared to iPad? Android is better than iOS?

 

[Ballis]

He's a hockey player (defense) plays on 2 teams and is a leading scorer on one of them. Besides (forgot to add) Soccer sucks!

He plays defense and is leading scorer? Thats impressive! EA Sports or 2K?

 

[ucantgetridofme]

You guys crack me up burying your heads in the sand when you hear things about apple that aren't good. What are you going to do 5 years from now when apple stock is under $100 and iOS devices have a small fraction of the market? Who will you worship?

 

[iChrist]

Nope. Windows is and was a closed source OS. Dell's own install disks probably just contained Window bundled with Dell drivers and apps.

Android, on the other hand, is open source, so anyone can modify the OS and customize it for their own use. Most Android manufacturers agree to Google compatibility guidelines to maintain app compatibility. However, some (such as Amazon and popular Chinese variants) do not. Individual manufacturers adopt proprietary user interfaces to distinguish their individual versions.

For some reason, these different versions are all counted together. Even if they are not compatible with each other.

Ok, if you want to look at it that way... then Apple is by default in the losing end of the business. Google makes money off their OS, Apple off their hardware. There is less and less reason for people to upgrade their iPads with each generation. Retina is basically the only improvement, processor upgrades are hardly noticable.