Android loses sight of runaway Apple in Q2 tablet race

Monster demand for the iPad 2 helps market leader consolidate as Google operating systems sheds share to RIM

The stellar growth of the tablet PC market shows no sign of hitting the buffers any time soon, with IDC upping its 2011 sales forecast to more than 60 million units worldwide.

According to the analyst, global second-quarter tablet shipments stood at 13.6 million. This represents sequential growth of 88.9 per cent and a 303.8 per cent increase on the same period last year.

Solid demand for the iPad 2 helped Apple increase its share of the market to 68.3 per cent in Q2, up 2.6 points on the previous quarter. RIM released its PlayBook device during the quarter and has already snagged a 4.9 per cent slice of the tablet pie.

This means Android devices' collective share of the market fell from 34 per cent in Q1, to just 26.8 per cent in Q2. IDC is projecting Android to shed almost another four points of market share next quarter, before recovering to its Q2 position by the end of the year and gaining further ground in 2012.

The fire sale of the discontinued TouchPad will give HP a 4.7 per cent chunk of the market in 2011's third quarter, predicts the analyst, but this will shrink to zero by the end of the year. The proliferation of vendors leaping into the tablet space will help increase price competition, claimed Tom Mainelli, IDC's research director for mobile connected devices.

"Media tablet shipments grew at a solid pace in the second quarter, led by continued strong demand for Apple products," he added. "We expect shipment totals to continue to grow in the third and fourth quarter, as additional vendors introduce more price-competitive Android products into the market and Apple works to maintain its dominance in the category."