Apple's iPad market share drops 40 per cent year on year , as Android tablets become the dominant force.
This time last year Apple iPad's and Android tablets had almost a 50-50 share of the tablet market, but a year on and the picture looks very different. A new report from Strategy Analytics has shown that in the second quarter of 2013 Apple's iPad range only accounted for 28 per cent on the tablet market - down from 47 per cent in the same quarter last year.
That alone would be worrying enough for Apple, but actual sales in the quarter were down 14 per cent , in stark contrast to the tablet market as a whole - which grew almost 50 per cent. Apple sold just 14.6 million Apple iPad's , which is 3 million lower than their expectations.
Some of that reduction is due to excess inventory in the channel (1.9 million excess) , meaning that some of this quarters actual sales were reported in the previous quarter. However, even factoring this in things don't look great for Apple's iPad , who have lost significant ground to the plethora of Android tablets on the market.
Google's Android platform now has a 67 market share of the tablet market, up from 51 per cent a year earlier. A larger portion of that success is due to Google's own Nexus 7 tablet , which has gone down a storm with consumers thanks to the great value it offers. The recently announced Nexus 7 2 looks set to repeat the success, while Samsung continue to use the Android platform in the majority of it's tablets.
What's happening at Apple ?
Well, Apple's products are significantly more expensive than their Android rivals. In the past this has been an issue , due to the perceived innovation and desirability of their tablets. However, perhaps the most recent iPad and the iPad Mini have failed to captivate consumers.
In our opinion Apple needs to innovate further with the next iPad models, or launch a more affordable iPad to take on Google's Nexus 7 2 and other reasonably priced Android tablets. Apple's iPad 5 looks set to be thinner, lighter and faster than ever.
