Peter King, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, ‘Global tablet shipments grew 120 percent sequentially to reach 9.7 million units in Q4 2010. Apple maintained first position. Apple recorded an impressive 75 percent global marketshare during the fourth quarter, but it has slipped from a peak of 95 percent in Q3 2010 due to rising competition from Android.'”
Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, ‘Android tablet volumes experienced 2000 percent sequential growth and its global marketshare soared to a record 22 percent in Q4 2010. The Samsung Galaxy Tab was the main driver of Android’s success, as the model was launched in dozens of countries and promoted heavily by Samsung. Tablet makers like Android because of its perceived low cost and an accompanying range of compelling media services such as YouTube and Google Maps.'”
Other findings from the research include:
• Strategy Analytics expects Android to increase share of the global tablet market during the first half of 2011. Several models from major vendors are scheduled to hit retail stores, such as the Motorola Xoom. The growing base of tablets will make Android a more attractive platform for media developers in the United States and worldwide;
• The United States was by far the world’s largest tablet market during the quarter. The US is a market that no major vendor can afford to ignore.
Global Tablet Operating System Shipments and Market Share in Q4 2010
MacDailyNews Note: Uh, yeah. Oh, by the way: Samsung Exec: Galaxy Tab shipments were 2 million; shipments, not sales to end users – January 31, 2011.
The full report, Global Tablet OS Market Share: Q4 2010, is published by the Strategy Analytics Tablet & Touchscreen (TTS) service, details of which can be found here.
Source: Strategy Analytics
MacDailyNews Take: We want to meet these mouth-breathers who are buying Samsung Galaxy Tabs. Over the years, from reviews and what not, we have a bunch of dead-end electronics we’d love to unload.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz, “Edward W.,” and “Lynn W.” for the heads up.]
Ios iPod which are the small form factor of IOS tablets should be added to Q4 7.3 millions.
The real iOS tablet number for Q4 is in fact 12-13 millions
Just 75%?
I agree with Hamourabi, iPod Touch is more a tablet than an MP3 player.
Yes they should include the iPods AND (and this is a big and…)
They are reporting iPad units SOLD vs android tablets shipped.
Stuffing the channel can push single quarter sales numbers but doesn’t actually reflect market success (as evidenced by the zune channel stuffing)
I can’t see any rational person actually choosing the current line of android tablets (except the ~5% hard core apple haters who just won’t buy apple products)
Have to see if the next generation android tablets coming this summer are actually competitive with the iPad (as the current crop are decidedly not), however that generation will have to likely have to compete with the second generation iPads. (same old story when you try to make copies of apple products: by the time you get it to market you are at least a year behind)
This article is much more interesting, Apple’s market share may have gone down, but their profit went up.
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/01/31/apple-is-still-sucking-most-of-the-profit-out-of-the-mobile-phone-business/?source=yahoo_quote
I can’t wait for the iPad 2!
Do their numbers include those pathetic $99 tablets that even FAndroid reviewers told everyone to avoid? Likely so!
Rephrased: exactly how many Galaxy Tabs were sold to end users in Q4 2010?
“Mouth breathers” Brilliant!
Up from 96% of the market just a few months ago.. or wait..
Silliness aside, the interesting tidbit here, it would appear, the biggest market for the Samsung Tab has been Korea and India so far.
The mouthbreathers paid the same price for 55% less screen!
The joke’s on them and anyone that pays 10 inch screen prices for a less than half size 7 inch form factor, effectively a huge cellphone.
XOOM what kind of stupid name is that? Is this aimed at kids under 10???
iPad market share would still be at 90% in the fourth quarter if Apple had created a 7″ version. Even if SJ is right that MOST people prefer a 10″ screen, SOME people clearly want the 7″ form factor. If Apple wants to dominate this market like they do mp3 players, they need to follow the same strategy as iPods and create multiple sizes/price points and not just give away a substantial chunk of the market. Apple didn’t completely dominate mp3 players until they created the “mini” and “nano” versions.
Go Apple!!
The *increase* in iPad unit sales (3.1M) from Q3 to Q4 2010 was nearly 50% greater than the *total* Android tablet unit sales (2.1M). Only in the case of Apple will you see analysts work so hard to attempt to marginalize a highly profitable 75% marketshare.
Granted, Android is gaining some marketshare, but that is to be expected in a fledgling growth area like tablets. Besides, some consumers are anti-Apple, others are pro-Android, and many others are clueless. You don’t want to deal with 100% of consumers.
With respect to the article, IMO “Tablet makers like Android because…” it’s the only real option they have other than a recent Windows derivative. Apple’s iOS is not for sale, and certainly not being given away for “free” (if you discount Google’s built-in agendas).
No, no, NO!!! Read todays Wall Street Journal on Samsung.
Their figures are manufactured tablets, not sold. When pressed Samsung admitted the number of sold tablets were “quite small” but declined to give a number. All according to WSJ.
So forget about the 3 million Samsung Tabs. They are sitting on dealers shelves and in big warehouses somewhere.
It’s pronounced exhume, as in; we exhumed the body to see if it will work!
When a company calls itself Strategy Analytics, shouldn’t the analysis be to actually research their numbers and recognize that a company selling less then 100,000 units vs a company selling 7.3 million units actually gives Apple, conservatively speaking, 95.8% of the market. The last I read any figure re the Galaxy Tab sales, it was 50,000 units. Shouldn’t Strategy Analytics actually analyze rather than just report PR numbers?
Strategy Analytics make money by selling ‘research’.
In this ‘research’ they use non-comparable data (manufactured units vs. units sold), they claim meaningless percentile growth figures, and shamelessly make the glaringly obvious sound like insights:
“Android to increase share of the global tablet market during the first half of 2011”
Yep, from nothing to something will increase the share.
“The growing base of tablets will make Android a more attractive platform for media developers in the United States”
Yep, ‘more’ attractive because now it is non-existant.
“The US is a market that no major vendor can afford to ignore.”
Well, no shit Sherlock.
These guys give prostitution a bad name.
@ Original Jake:
“MOST people prefer a 10″ screen, SOME people clearly want the 7″ form factor”
You need an update as that reported number of Galaxy Tabs sold weren’t to users, but to partners; resellers, retailers, etc. The actual number is unknown, but according to Samsung it is, “quite small”. So, Steve Jobs may have been right all along.
“Apple didn’t completely dominate mp3 players until they created the “mini” and “nano” versions”
Actually, Apple completely dominated the hard-drive based MP3 market from the get-go. The mini and nano helped them dominate the rest of the MP3 market (flash based) because they were cheaper, not because of the different form factor.