With no new iPad models introduced since November 2012, Apple's tablet shipments lacked any significant growth in the third quarter of 2013. As a matter of fact, shipments even declined from 14.6 million to 14.1 million on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
Meanwhile the rest of the tablet market continued to grow at a decent pace with Samsung and Lenovo leading the charge. Samsung is quickly catching up with Apple in unit terms and it seems likely that we will eventually witness the same development in the tablet market that we saw in the smartphone industry.
Apple probably won't be too concerned with the recent developments though as a) it is still expected to rake in the lion's share of the industry's profits and b) with the iPad Air and the Retina iPad mini, the company's line-up for the holiday quarter looks stronger than ever.
Strong Growth for Android Tablets as Apple Stalls
Description
Worldwide tablet shipments grew 36.7 percent to 47.6 million units in the third quarter, as Apple's competitors are finally gaining a foothold in the tablet market. The market leader itself saw iPad shipments stagnate at 14.1 million units.
