Samsung tablet growth threatens Apple's market lead

Apple's huge lead on second-place Samsung decimated after latter posted 277 per cent annual growth

Apple's stranglehold on the tablet market is under threat from Samsung, according to IDC numbers.

In last year's second quarter, the duo's respective market share stood at 7.6 per cent and 60.3 per cent, but in 2013's Q2, it narrowed significantly and now stands at 18 per cent and 32.4 per cent.

Samsung's assault on Apple was driven by a whopping 277 per cent annual boost in Q2 shipments to 8.1 million, compared to a 14.1 per cent slump in Apple's over the same period, which took its shipment level down to 14.6 million.

Ryan Reith, IDC's programme manager for the analyst's mobility trackers, tweeted that in Q2, Android tablet shipments accounted for 62.6 per cent of the global market, while iOS captured 32.5 per cent - a figure that was almost the exact opposite last year.

IDC's research director for tablets, Tom Mainelli, said that Apple's apparent poor quarter was made worse by a very strong Q2 last year which was driven by a new iPad launch - something not expected until Q4 this year.

"A new iPad launch always piques consumer interest in the tablet category and traditionally that has helped both Apple and its competitors," he said.

"With no new iPads, the market slowed for many vendors, and thatis 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."

According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Tracker, global tablet shipments suffered a sequential decline of 9.7 per cent, but compared to last year, were up 59.6 per cent. It claims 45.1 million units were shipped in the second quarter of this year, up from 28.3 million last year.

Elsewhere in the market, third-place Asus' shipments grew 120 per cent annually to two million devices. Lenovo shifted 1.5 million units, 313.9 per cent up on last year. Acer narrowly trailed Lenovo after hawking 1.4 million tablets - up 136.6 per cent year on year.

IDC's Reith added: "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-fuelled products are starting to make notable progress into the market."