Apple)
Apple will continue to reign as king of the
tablet
market in 2012, according to an IHS report released today.
The
iPad will grab a full 61
percent of worldwide tablet sales this year, IHS estimated. That would
mark a rebound from last year’s fourth quarter when the iPad’s share
dropped to 55.1 percent.
Apple lost some ground to
Android during 2011′s final
quarter due to huge
demand for Amazon’s Kindle Fire. The retail giant’s low-cost
tablet helped Android win a 41.1 percent slice of the tablet market
over the holidays, up from 31.1 percent in the third quarter.
But as Apple recaptures that lost market share, Android’s
share will drop to 38.4 percent this year, IHS has forecast. Despite
attempts by competitors such as Amazon to pick up and retain a larger
chunk of the market, Apple continues to hold the edge.
“The combination of a good-looking device, well-designed
applications, video, books, and music has provided consumers with an
easy-to-use product and an appealing use case,” Rhoda Alexander, IHS
director for monitors and tablets research, said in a statement. “Such
an ecosystem took Apple years to put together, starting with the iPod
plus iTunes Music Store more than nine years ago, and it’s proving to
be a challenge for the company’s competitors to replicate it.”
Rumors of an iPad
mini have been floating around for a while. Apple, as usual,
has been mum on the possibility of such a device. But IHS pointed to
“supply-side sources” who claim that a 7.8-inch iPad will launch later
this year, adding to Apple’s lineup.
Traditional media tablets, such as the iPad, are running the
show right now. However, IHS said it believes that the release of
Windows 8 later this year will trigger new Ultrabooks and hybrid
devices that convert between a laptop and a tablet. These “PC tablets”
will attract users who want the flexibility of a touchscreen tablet
combined with the power of a PC.
But these new hybrid tablets won’t cannibalize the media
tablet market.
IHS predicts the industry will sell more than 197 million
media tablets next year, compared with just 8 million PC tablets.
Tablet sales overall are expected to reach 126 million this
year, an 85 percent jump from the 68.4 million units sold last year.
Sales are poised to rise another 63 percent next year, culminating in
360 million units sold by 2016.
Via CNET
