IDC reports Android tablets now outselling iOS tablets

[Bateluer]

http://www.androidauthority.com/idc-android-tablets-overtake-apple-201110/

IDC reports that for the first three months of 2013, 49.2 million tablets have already shipped, with 27.8 million of those tablets running Android. In contrast, Apple shipped just 19.5 million units.

Apple is still the most popular single brand in the tablet world, but Samsung isn’t too far behind with 8.8 million units. While that’s less than half of what Apple is shipping, it is still a jump forward for Samsung compared to the same timeframe last year. In Q1 2012, Apple held 58.1% of the tablet market, and Samsung held just 11.3%.

The evolution of Android tablets from the funbled Xoom to the modern Nexus 10s has been incredibly impressive.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Huh. Tablets are one area where even as an Android fan I'd much rather have an iPad.

 

[jpeyton]

Huh. Tablets are one area where even as an Android fan I'd much rather have an iPad.

I have an iPad 4 and Nexus 7. The Nexus gets a lot more use, primarily because of it's seamless integration with Google Apps.

That's why this land-grab is so important for Google. Give away a ton of great apps (Mail, Maps, Voice, etc.) and people will stay loyal.

My company, which is #1 in the country in our particular field, just switched to Google Apps for corporate mail. We were using Outlook/Exchange previously.

 

[QueBert]

so 500 different tablets combine are outselling 3, huh who would have thought that was possible?

meanwhile if the best selling Android tablet doubled in sales it still wouldn't be the leader.

 

[bearxor]

I saw this article a few days ago. Though I think the headline was that shipments were overtaken. So I'm not sure if this is actual sales or not.

Still, I found it kind of amusing that apple increased their tablet shipments by 60% and lost 20% of the market at the same time. I don't think anyone at Apple can really be complaining too much about that.

 

[Shlong]

so 500 different tablets combine are outselling 1, huh who would have thought that was possible?

meanwhile if the best selling Android tablet doubled in sales it still wouldn't be the leader.

Tablet market #'s are shifting towards the smart phone #'s.

 

[SAWYER]

I like the Android phone and ipad combo. I like the games though and ios gets some Android doesn't or gets them first

 

[QueBert]

Tablet market #'s are shifting towards the smart phone #'s.

So like the iPhone, with the iPad Apple will remain with the single best selling device but lose when it comes to total numbers because they're competing against dozens and dozens of others products.

That sounds about right.

 

[Bateluer]

My company, which is #1 in the country in our particular field, just switched to Google Apps for corporate mail. We were using Outlook/Exchange previously.

We just shifted from a half-baked proprietary system to Office 365. Its an improvement from what we were using, but I still feel icky.

 

[WelshBloke]

so 500 different tablets combine are outselling 3, huh who would have thought that was possible?

meanwhile if the best selling Android tablet doubled in sales it still wouldn't be the leader.

Does that matter?

Its not like anyone is saying iOS or Android is going to disappear, but surely the number of people in the "ecosystem" is more important than the number of people on an individual device?

 

[Red Storm]

Hmm, this is interesting if true. Didn't think it would happen so quickly.

 

[QueBert]

Does that matter?

Its not like anyone is saying iOS or Android is going to disappear, but surely the number of people in the "ecosystem" is more important than the number of people on an individual device?

ecosystem apparently isn't that important because Android has been way ahead of iOS on number of devices for years now. But the iOS ecosystem is still stupidly ahead of Android's. This could change in the future, but it's not at the moment.

Money's more important, and iOS is where the ecosystem monies at.

 

[WelshBloke]

ecosystem apparently isn't that important because Android has been way ahead of iOS on number of devices for years now. But the iOS ecosystem is still stupidly ahead of Android's. This could change in the future, but it's not at the moment.

Money's more important, and iOS is where the ecosystem monies at.

How much money Google or Apple makes makes absolutely no difference to me whatsoever.

I'd say that numbers do matter as Android tablet numbers have lagged iOS tablet numbers and thats also where Android apps have had the perception of being behind. Most people seem happy where Android phone apps are but would like to see more work on Android tablet apps.

 

[Phokus]

ecosystem apparently isn't that important because Android has been way ahead of iOS on number of devices for years now. But the iOS ecosystem is still stupidly ahead of Android's. This could change in the future, but it's not at the moment.

Money's more important, and iOS is where the ecosystem monies at.

Uhm, network effect.

In economics and business, a network effect (also called network externality or demand-side economies of scale) is the effect that one user of a good or service has on the value of that product to other people. When network effect is present, the value of a product or service is dependent on the number of others using it.[1]

Market share is extremely important. I don't own apple stock, i don't work for apple, why the hell would i give a shit how much apple makes as an end user.

I put my chips in with android because i know that the likelyhood of android losing this race is slim (we're going to see a LOT of pc'ization of the smartphone/tablet industry, especially when more people use prepaid/carriers get rid of subsidization of smartphones). It'll be hilarious if history repeats itself and apple becomes a small player in mobile devices just like they were with pc's.

 

[TheStu]

Uhm, network effect.



Market share is extremely important. I don't own apple stock, i don't work for apple, why the hell would i give a shit how much apple makes as an end user.

I put my chips in with android because i know that the likelyhood of android losing this race is slim (we're going to see a LOT of pc'ization of the smartphone/tablet industry, especially when more people use prepaid/carriers get rid of subsidization of smartphones). It'll be hilarious if history repeats itself and apple becomes a small player in mobile devices just like they were with pc's.

How much money Google or Apple makes makes absolutely no difference to me whatsoever.

I'd say that numbers do matter as Android tablet numbers have lagged iOS tablet numbers and thats also where Android apps have had the perception of being behind. Most people seem happy where Android phone apps are but would like to see more work on Android tablet apps.

I think that QueBert was saying that the iOS ecosystem is more profitable for the developers and not just Apple. Why is iOS still the first target for many devs even though Android has more users? $$$. If you only have the dev resources to target 1 platform, then iOS is easier due to fewer target devices, and it pays more.

 

[badb0y]

I think that QueBert was saying that the iOS ecosystem is more profitable for the developers and not just Apple. Why is iOS still the first target for many devs even though Android has more users? $$$. If you only have the dev resources to target 1 platform, then iOS is easier due to fewer target devices, and it pays more.

Not only that but it's much harder to pirate apps on iOS then it is on Android. You have to have a jailbroken iOS device to install cracked apps but almost every Android device can side-load cracked apps. It makes a lot of sense to release Apps on iOS first if you are on a tight budget and plan to sell your app for money.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

So like the iPhone, with the iPad Apple will remain with the single best selling device but lose when it comes to total numbers because they're competing against dozens and dozens of others products.

That sounds about right.

The tablet market following the phone market is not a good thing for Apple, the absolute last thing they want is in a few years for Samsungs tablet flagship to be closing in on the iPad in sales while Samsungs total lineup significantly outsells them.

 

[badb0y]

The tablet market following the phone market is not a good thing for Apple, the absolute last thing they want is in a few years for Samsungs tablet flagship to be closing in on the iPad in sales while Samsungs total lineup significantly outsells them.

Really? Apple controls what 10% of the PC marker share, right? How much is their profit share again?

So as you can see we can argue all day about market-share but at the end of the day the company that brings in the most money is the most successful. So it doesn't matter if Apple has a 10% market-share if they bring in 50% of the profit-share.

This is strictly from a financial point of view for the company. As bearxor pointed out it's not like Apple sat still while Android market-share increased, they increased their tablet shipments by 60% lol.

 

[QueBert]

Better ecosystem = better apps. Android tablets outsell iPads, great. The apps are HORRIBLE compared. If I buy a device I don't care which sells better, I care about the ecosystem though because that will give me the best apps, and the best selection of apps. Numbers mean nothing to me. Samsung could outsell iPad's next year, so long as the iPad apps repair better it's the platform for me.

 

[Ancalagon44]

I just wish Android tablet manufacturers produced tablets somewhere near the quality of an iPad. I mean, 10 inch 1280 x 800 tablets just do not cut it anymore. There are only a few 1200 x 1920 tablet, and the Nexus 10 never got 3G connectivity, unlike the Nexus 7.

I actually have an unopened 4th gen wifi-only 16GB iPad sitting in my drawer. I was hoping to sell it because I consider tablets without 3G kinda useless. Before anyone offers to buy it, I'm in South Africa.

 

[Phokus]

Better ecosystem = better apps. Android tablets outsell iPads, great. The apps are HORRIBLE compared. If I buy a device I don't care which sells better, I care about the ecosystem though because that will give me the best apps, and the best selection of apps. Numbers mean nothing to me. Samsung could outsell iPad's next year, so long as the iPad apps repair better it's the platform for me.

Going back to the network effect, if android gets like 80%+ marketshare, you will damn well care about who sells more because the market will drag developers, kick and screaming, to develop more for android than for ioS. That's the same reason why i can run a helluva lot more software on my PC than a mac user can on his mac.

 

[Oyeve]

I find this amazing. Not because I hate apple or android, but there are only a handful of decent android tablets. I have a TF101 and a tab 2 7" and the tf101 is basically useless and the tab 2 7" is close. Are these numbers including all those 50 buck chinese ripoffs?

 

[Ravynmagi]

If you look at the IDC report that breaks it down by vendor. You'll see Apple at 40%, Samsung at 18%, ASUS at 6%, and Amazon at 4%. Other makes up 32%. And sadly that "other" is a lot of crap cheap Android tablets with 1024x600 or 800x480 resolution displays, single core processors, 512MB of RAM selling for $100 to $150 probably, and many don't even have Google Play on them as well.

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/...ung-took-second-with-17-9-asus-passed-amazon/

I love Android, really. But I'm still disappointed with Google and what they've done with the tablet experience. I can't blame Google for the apps, they are trying I think. But I just can't accept that dang Phone UI on my tablets. I hate it so much.

So I'm still rocking an iPad 4, with my Nexus 4 phone. Heck, I probably use my Kindle Fire HD more than anything else. If the iPad mini resolution wasn't so bad, it might have been my primary tablet. And you know the next iPad mini is probably gonna have a much better display.

Yet sadly at the same time it seems Android manufactures have lost the stomach to make quality high end Android tablets. The new Sony tablet kinda looks okay, it didn't blow me away, but it's Sony so it's good for them. Not even hearing any rumors of a new high end ASUS tablet this year. Samsung's Galaxy Tab 3 line up looks like crap again. Apparently we are all just going to have to wait for the next Nexus tablets and that is about all we'll have to look forward to and hope Google doesn't screw us again on the storage.

Google needs to figure out what they can do to get their partners focused again on high end tablets. Otherwise it'll just be between Apple and Microsoft with Android reserved to glorified e-readers and childrens toys.

 

[QueBert]

Going back to the network effect, if android gets like 80%+ marketshare, you will damn well care about who sells more because the market will drag developers, kick and screaming, to develop more for android than for ioS. That's the same reason why i can run a helluva lot more software on my PC than a mac user can on his mac.

Last figures I saw iOS owners spend 15 times more on apps than Android owners. I know peopel who develop for both platforms. It will be ages before I have to worry about this, if ever. The amount of dollars users spend is all developers care about. Android owners are "gimme gimme gimme!" cheapskates.

 

[Oyeve]

Really? Apple controls what 10% of the PC marker share, right? How much is their profit share again?

So as you can see we can argue all day about market-share but at the end of the day the company that brings in the most money is the most successful. So it doesn't matter if Apple has a 10% market-share if they bring in 50% of the profit-share.

This is strictly from a financial point of view for the company. As bearxor pointed out it's not like Apple sat still while Android market-share increased, they increased their tablet shipments by 60% lol.

Buahahahahaha! Where did you get the fake pic? Thats hilarious!