Despite the increasing number of competing tablets and the fact that the iPad has already been around for over two years, the iPad continues to trudge on as strong as ever, retaining its stranglehold on the tablet market.
Following recent reports revealing that the iPad accounts for 90% of all tablet web traffic, and that it has allowed Apple to reclaim a worldwide lead in PC shipments, a pair of new reports on the tablet market as of the end of the second quarter reveals that the iPad also still accounts for nearly 70% of the global tablet market.
The first report, from Strategy Analytics, shows Apple capturing 68.3% of the tablet market, up over six percent year over year. The figure represents the iPad’s highest share of the market in almost two years (it initially held almost the entire tablet market in the few months after it launched).
Apple shipped a robust 17.0 million iPads worldwide and maintained its strong market leadership with 68 percent share during the second quarter of 2012. Apple continued to shrug off the much-hyped threat from Android and the iPad’s global tablet share is at its highest level since Q3 2010. […]
The report also notes that Android has managed to remain steady with 29.3% of the tablet market, showing neither growth nor shrinkage, while platforms from Microsoft and other vendors have list significant share.
Meanwhile, a report from IDC reveals very similar data, showing the iPad as having 68.2 percent of the global market. The report also notes that Apple’s growth rate stands at an impressive 84.3% year over year, with no sign of slowing down any time soon.
Considering that the 3rd-gen iPad has already seen Apple hit a new shipment record last quarter, and also considering the mounting rumors that Apple may be preparing to release a 7.85-inch “iPad mini” for a fraction of the cost of their current iPad, Apple’s dominance could still have significant room to grow.
The full report is available over at IDC.
