Last time we checked in with research firm IDC, they had Apple at 68.3% of the worldwide tablet market with approximately 9.3 million units of the iPad 2 shipped in Q2 2011. While the firm’s estimates for Q3 see a drop to 61.5% of the market, Apple still leads the market and increased shipments from the 9.3 in Q2 to approximately 11.1 million units in Q3. To put that in perspective, Apple’s closest competitor, Samsung, is over 10x behind with just 5.6% of the market. The overall tablet market increased 23.9% to approximately 18.1 million units, representing a 264.5% increase over the year ago quarter.
As for where Apple stands in comparison to the overall Android tablet market, IDC expects Android tablet market share to increase rapidly in Q4 from just 33.2% in Q3 to 40.3%. It’s important to note that IDC recently included “media tablets” such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet in their worldwide tablet market estimates, which will more than likely account for much of the increase.
This morning Morgan Stanley significantly raised its forecasts for 2012, predicting Apple could possibly sell 90 million iPads during the year. (That’s in addition to 190 million iPhones). The analysts apparently have high hopes for Android 4.0′s ability to offer a competitive alternative to iPad going forward:
“Apple’s larger portfolio of tablet-specific apps, upcoming iPad versions, and growing physical store presence in key emerging markets like Asia/Pacific will help maintain its global leadership. However, an improving Android OS experience and lower competitor pricing in an environment with worldwide economic concerns should help Android to increase its market share,” said Jennifer Song, research analyst, Worldwide Trackers.
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