Back-to-school push sees tablet market flourish

Global tablet industry grows by 11.5 per cent, says IDC

Back-to-school promotions and growing US appetite drove a quarter of modest growth in the tablet market in Q3, says IDC.

According to its latest research, the global tablet market grew by 11.5 per cent year on year for the third quarter of 2014, with global shipments reaching 53.8 million units over the same period.

Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC's research director for tablets, said: "Not only is the US market one of the largest for tablets, but third-quarter results also indicate that this is where the growth is.

"We saw Verizon continuing to sell connected tablets at a fast pace, a strategy that we believe other carriers will replicate in following quarters," Bouchard said.

Apple continued to lead the market, with a 22.8 per cent market share and 12.3 million units shipped, but its year-on-year growth dropped by 12.8 per cent. IDC said that although Apple released new iPads this quarter, "we still expect 2014 to be the year of the iPhone".

Following behind Apple was Samsung, which shipped 9.9 million units and held an 18.3 per cent market share with 5.6 per cent year-on-year growth.

RCA was a surprise entry into the top five as it enjoyed 194 per cent year-on-year growth, thanks to distribution deals with some of the largest retailers in the world. The firm shipped 2.6 million units in the quarter to hold a 4.9 per cent share of the market.