Global tablet shipments has fallen 9.7% to 45.1 million units in the second quarter of 2013, compared to the first quarter, according to International Data Corporation.
The research firm however noted that tablet shipments increased 59.6% in Q2, when compared to 28.3 million devices shipped in the second quarter of 2012.
Apple led the tablet market with a 32.4% share in Q2, followed by Samsung (18%), ASUS (4.5%) and Lenovo (3.3% ).
Apple’s iPad saw a lower-than-expected shipment total of 14.6 million units for the quarter, down from 19.5 million in Q1.
Samsung shipped 8.1 million units, down from 8.6 million in Q1, while ASUS shipped 2 million units, down from 2.6 million, in the last quarter.
IDC research director of tablets Tom Mainelli said a new iPad launch always piques consumer interest.
"With no new iPads, the market slowed for many vendors, and that’s likely to continue into the third quarter. However, by the fourth quarter we expect new products from Apple, Amazon, and others to drive impressive growth in the market," Mainelli said.
IDC’s Mobility Tracker programme manager Ryan Reith said the tablet market is still evolving and vendors can rise and fall quickly as a result.
"Apple aside, the remaining vendors are still very much figuring out which platform strategy will be successful over the long run. To date, Android has been far more successful than the Windows 8 platform. However, Microsoft-fueled products are starting to make notable progress into the market," Reith said.
