Global tablet shipments grew by 11% in 2Q 2014

Over 49.3 million units of tablets were shipped in the second quarter of 2014, representing 11 percent year over year growth according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.

[blockquote right=”pull-right”]Apple continued to maintain its lead in the worldwide tablet market, shipping 13.3 million units, representing 26.9 percent market share in the second quarter. Samsung shipped 8.5 million units which represents 17.2 percent market share. Lenovo moved into the third spot in the tablet market, shipping 2.4 million units and grabbing 4.9% markets share. The top 5 was rounded out by ASUS and Acer, with 4.6% and 2.0% market share respectively. [/blockquote]
Although tablets shipments declined by 1.5 percent compared to the first quarter of 2014, IDC believes the market will experience positive but slower growth in 2014 compared to the previous year.

“As we indicated last quarter, the market is still being impacted by the rise of large-screen smartphones and longer than anticipated ownership cycles,” said Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC Research Director for Tablets. “We can also attribute the market deceleration to slow commercial adoption of tablets. Despite this trend, we believe that stronger commercial demand for tablets in the second half of 2014 will help the market grow and that we will see more enterprise-specific offerings, as illustrated by the Apple and IBM partnership, come to market.”

Apple continued to maintain its lead in the worldwide tablet market, shipping 13.3 million units, representing 26.9 percent market share in the second quarter. Samsung shipped 8.5 million units which represents 17.2 percent market share. Lenovo moved into the third spot in the tablet market, shipping 2.4 million units and grabbing 4.9% markets share. The top 5 was rounded out by ASUS and Acer, with 4.6% and 2.0% market share respectively.

Jitesh Ubrani, Research Analyst, Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker says “Until recently, Apple, and to a lesser extent Samsung, have been sitting at the top of the market, minimally impacted by the progress from competitors. Now we are seeing growth amongst the smaller vendors and a levelling of shares across more vendors as the market enters a new phase.”