According to IDC global Q3 2013 tablet shipments total 47.6 million units with 36.7% Y-o-Y (or 7% Q-o-Q) growth. Android drives "much" of such growth, while iOS stalls and Windows struggles.
Apple remains in the doldrums during the quarter-- iPad shipments drop from 14.6m units in Q2 2013 to 14.1m, Y-o-Y growth remains virtually flat at less than 1%, and market share slips to 29.6%, the lowest to date.
The analyst blames such results the lack of Q2 and Q3 2013 iPad launches, but since Apple moved product launches to October-November shipments should rebound to "robust" levels come Q4 2013.
"With two 7.9-inch models and two 9.7-inch models Apple is taking steps to appeal to multiple segments," IDC says. "While some undoubtedly hoped for more aggressive pricing from Apple, the current prices clearly reflect Apple's ongoing strategy to maintain its premium status."
Samsung follows in the vendor rankings with shipments reaching 9.7m units and 20.4% market share, thanks to popular bundles with Samsung smartphones and TVs. Nexus 7-maker LG ships 3.5m tablets for 7.4% market share, and Lenovo takes 4th place with 4.8% share and shipments reaching 2.3m units.
Capping the top 5 is Acer with 1.2m units shipped and 2.5% share.
Interestingly the "Other" category, being a combination of major vendors (Amazon, Microsoft, HP, Dell) and white-box low-cost Android device peddlers, makes 35.3% of the overall market.
"White box tablet shipments continue to constitute a fairly large percentage of the Android devices shipped into the market," the analyst concludes. "These low-cost Android-based products make tablets available to a wider market of consumers, which is good. However, many use cheap parts and non Google-approved versions of Android that can result in an unsatisfactory customer experience, limited usage, and very little engagement with the ecosystem. Android's growth in tablets has been stunning to watch, but shipments alone won't guarantee long-term success. For that you need a sustainable hardware business model, a healthy ecosystem for developers, and happy end users."
