Figures from Strategy Analytics show that almost 10 million tablet devices were shipped worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2010. Three-quarters of these were Apple devices, although Android captured 22% of the global market.
Peter King, Director at Strategy Analytics, said “Global tablet shipments grew 120% sequentially to reach 9.7 million units in Q4 2010. Apple maintained first position. Apple recorded an impressive 75% global marketshare during the fourth quarter, but it has slipped from a peak of 95% in Q3 2010 due to rising competition from Android.”
Strategy Analytics says the Samsung Galaxy Tab was the main driver of Android’s success – and it expects Android to continue increasing its share of the market in the first half of 2011.
Global Tablet OS Shipments (millions of units / market share)
| |
Q3 2010 |
Q4 2010 |
Total 2010 |
| Apple iOS |
4.2m (95.5%) |
7.3m (75.3%) |
14.8m (84.1%) |
| Android |
0.1m (2.3%) |
2.1m (21.6%) |
2.3m (13.1%) |
| Others |
0.1m (2.3%) |
0.3m (3.1%) |
0.5m (2.8%) |
| Total |
4.4m |
9.7m |
17.6m |