Android Claims 62% Of Tablet Market During 2013

Android’s caught up with Apple, but Apple continues to be the single biggest brand of tablet manufacturers.

When Apple came out with their iPad in 2010, it was a revolution of sorts in the world of consumer technology, and they sold about 30,000 units on the first day of launch!

Catching the entire industry by surprise with this launch, Apple enjoyed a first-mover advantage for two complete years. In fact, in 2012, Apple was said to have owned 53% of the tablet sales.
The remnant 47%, while lost to other brands, could not really be considered tablets, in the same playing field as the iPad.

Then the red-faced competition caught up. Somewhat.

Consequently, Apple’s market share for tablets is said to have declined to about 36% in 2013. The lost share has been lapped up by Android, whose cumulative share has increased to 62% (was 46% in 2012), with Microsoft having about 2% (up from 1% in 2012).

Analysts at Gartner (a leading information technology research and advisory company) had previously predicted that the iPad would have more than half of the tablet market, but the latest is that the Android Tablets sales number for 2013 have outsold Apples range of iPad tablets nearly by two folds.

If we take a closer look at the report, we see that if manufacturers are to be considered in isolation (not the OS driving the tablet) then Apple still leads the pack with 32% market share. The other 4 major players are running on Android; Samsung was at 19%, Asus at 5.6 %, Amazon at 4.8% and Lenovo had to be content at 3.3% market share.

A massive market share of 31% went to “others” which is referred to the inexpensive locally-grown brands running Android. These are inexpensive options available for the first time users who are also price sensitive and unsure of what they need from a tablet — except perhaps a screen larger than their phone’s.

iPads and a few Android tablets (Galaxy Tabs) hold aspirational value for the users, however are not opted for, because of the higher price point they are retailed at. This is where the inexpensive local brands have the advantage and thus the large market share of 31%.
They offer decent, if not parallel features at a fraction of the costs.

Thing is, iPad or not, the majority of all tablet users are yet to use the tablets for professional work — and are still substituting the tablet’s big screen for their phone, to enhance their entertainment experience.

iPads range from USD 400 and above, while inexpensive Android tablets are available at around USD 100. These offer the apps for social media, e-books, browsing, and tolerable gaming and media experience. With the users having access to the Android Play Store, the choice becomes a no brainer.

It has also been quoted that “The Android tablet is becoming highly commoditized this year, it will become critical for vendors to focus not only on the device experience and meaningful technology, but will also have to look into factors like the price and hardware, so as to ensure brand loyalty and improved margins”.

There are also some regulations, which have come in from Google, where they want to reduce the fractured sales of Android versions, and are limiting manufacturers using Android, to release their device running on Android version which can be a maximum of two versions older than the latest Android version in the market. This may not impact the major manufacturers, however it will take its toll on the 31%.

All said, tablets will continue to be an effervescent market for at least the next 2–3 years, and Apple’s monopoly may soon not exist, if the Android clan plays it right.

Originally published at Chip-Monks.