Global tablet shipment has reached 76.9 million units during the fourth quarter of 2013 (4Q13), reporting a 62.4% rise over the earlier quarter, and 25.2% growth when compared to the corresponding year ago quarter, a new report revealed.
According to IDC’s latest Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, the market’s growth rates have been dramatically down compared to the year-over-year rates of the corresponding quarter last year, and signifying a considerable slowing of the overall market.
IDC Tablets research director Tom Mainelli said it’s becoming increasingly clear that markets such as the US are reaching high levels of consumer saturation and while emerging markets continue to show strong growth this has not been enough to sustain the dramatic worldwide growth rates of years past.
"We expect commercial purchases of tablets to continue to accelerate in mature markets, but softness in the consumer segment — brought about by high penetration rates and increased competition for the consumer dollar — point to a more challenging environment for tablets in 2014 and beyond," Mainelli said.
Apple topped the list of global tablet market with 26 million units shipped during the quarter, capturing 33.8% of tablet market share, followed by Samsung (18.8%), Amazon (7.6%), ASUS (5.1%), and Lenovo (4.4%).
IDC Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker research analyst Jitesh Ubrani said Lenovo’s access to the Chinese whitebox manufacturing infrastructure has helped it drive more low-priced tablet products into the market, growing its share from just 1.3% in the same quarter last year.
"The company’s strength in emerging markets, and its increased market share in adjoining markets such as PCs and smartphones, makes it well positioned to see additional tablet gains in 2014," Ubrani said.
However, the global tablets shipments reached 217.1 million units for complete 2013, up 50.6% from 144.2 million units shipped in 2012, the report added.
