IDC: Apple's revolutionary iPad grabbed 87.4% share of worldwide tablet market in 3Q 2010

The worldwide media tablet market grew 45.1% in the third quarter of 2010 (3Q10), driven almost exclusively by global demand for Apple's groundbreaking iPad. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker, vendors shipped 4.8 million units globally in 3Q10, compared to 3.3 million units in the second quarter of 2010 and Apple's iPad represented nearly 90% of the media tablets shipped worldwide in 3Q10.

The growing popularity of tablet devices among consumers worldwide is evidenced not only by adoption of media tablets, but also of ereaders. The third quarter of 2010 saw global ereader shipments increase to 2.7 million units representing 40% growth over 2Q10, with the U.S. representing nearly three-quarters of the worldwide ereader market.

"The media tablet market's rapid evolution will continue to accelerate in 4Q10 and beyond with new product and service introductions, channel expansion, price competition and experimentation with new use cases among consumers and enterprises," said Susan Kevorkian, research director, Mobile Connected Devices.

According to IDC, media tablets are tablet form factor devices with color displays larger than 5 in. and smaller than 14 in. running lightweight operating systems (such as Apple's iOS and Google's Android OS) and can be based on either x86 or ARM processors. By contrast, tablet PCs run full PC operating systems and are based on x86 processors. Media tablets support multiple connectivity technologies and a broad range of applications, which differentiates them from single purpose–focused devices such as ereaders. Media tablet market evolution will be driven not only by product introductions from PC, consumer electronics, and mobile phone vendors, but also by expanded distribution channels (with mobile operators playing a key role) and commercial adoption by businesses.

Looking forward, IDC expects the media tablet market to finish 2010 at nearly 17 million units, and forecasts 44.6 million will ship in 2011, with the U.S. representing nearly 40% of the total. In 2012, IDC forecasts worldwide shipments of 70.8 million units. Growth in 2011 and beyond will be driven by device vendors introducing media tablets based on Android and other operating systems, as well as price and feature competition and strong demand in both the consumer and commercial segments.

For the ereader market, IDC anticipates 2010 to close at 10.8 million units shipped worldwide, with the U.S. representing 72.4% of global shipments. IDC forecasts 14.7 million units to ship in 2011 and 16.6 million in 2012, with demand driven by price competition among epaper-based device vendors, the introduction of color display ereaders, and the expansion of digital book and periodical content offerings across genres and languages.

Vendor Outlook: Media Tablets

• Apple definitively led the worldwide media tablet market in shipments and set the standard for technology innovation in 2010, with nearly 4.2 million units shipped in 3Q10 and an 87.4% share worldwide.

• During 3Q10 a handful of tier 2 and tier 3 vendors shipped media tablets based primarily on Android 2.1 and 2.2. In 4Q10, Samsung's introduction of the Galaxy Tab brought the first tier 1 device vendor to the Android media tablet market. Media tablet market growth is expected to accelerate significantly in 1Q11 with new products from multiple high-profile device vendors, including Motorola's Xoom, based on Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), and RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook based on BlackBerry Tablet OS.

Vendor Outlook: eReaders

• Amazon was the market leader for the quarter with more than 1.1 million units shipped and 41.5% share worldwide.
• Pandigital, which has a U.S. focus for its Novel ereaders with models based not only on epaper but also color LCD technology, came in second to Amazon worldwide and just edged out Barnes and Noble.
• Barnes and Noble, which is currently shipping exclusively in the U.S. market, was a strong contender for the number 3 position in 3Q10 and is expected to have good results in 4Q10 given its strong brand, competitive pricing for its epaper-based products, and the introduction of the new NOOKcolor in 4Q10.
• Sony was a distant number 4 vendor with slightly more than 200,000 units shipped and 8.4% worldwide share. Sony's early lead in North American ereader market has been usurped by Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
• China-based Hanvon edged close to Sony and effectively tied for fourth place with 8.2% worldwide share.

Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker, January 18, 2011

The Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker includes quarterly shipment and forecast analysis for over 30 countries including market size and vendor share along with detailed market segmentation and product attributes such as operating system, connectivity, and storage capacity among others.

Source: IDC

MacDailyNews Take: If you think that's impressive, just wait until you see the calendar fourth quarter numbers.

IDC says that Apple's iPad took 87.4% of the worldwide tablet market in 2010's third quarter... PING!

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There have been tablets before. I only difference I see is marketing.
The tablet should do a lot of things. Apple has made mistakes of not including things that are important like printing in their initial release. The iphone cannot print, organize, or view documents like Microsoft Windows. These capabilities are apart of the operating system.

Ask not for whom the Droid tolls ...

http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/18/acer-phasing-out-netbooks/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Venturebeat+(VentureBeat)

The iPad has its place and its market.

Watch for Droid tablets to put a hurt on the GROWTH of iPad sales, and start to (thankfully) put real pressure on MS.

The tablet should do a lot of things. Apple has made mistakes of not including things that are important like printing in their initial release. The iphone cannot print, organize, or view documents like Microsoft Windows. These capabilities are apart of the operating system.

Sorry, you are incorrect. You speak as someone who believes the incorrect information you read. The iPhone and the iPad both have iWorks apps that loads, edits, and creates Word documents (using Pages, a full Word compatible word processor), Excel documents (using Numbers, an Excel compatible spreadsheet) , or PowerPoint documents (using Keynote (a more powerful than Powerpoint presentation manager). These documents can be now be printed directly, displayed, or even projected from the iPhone or iPad, and could always be printed from a Mac or PC after editing or being created on the mobile device.

I have an iphone 3g and computer that runs Microsoft Windows. I cannot view or create documents on my iphone. The only to view something is reading it as an attachment on a electronic message. I cannot store/see documents on my phone. Where on the iphone is the file organizer? There is none. It should be there automatically and I should not waste more money and time on trying to locate and download an app. The same goes with printing. I can now print via a third party app and printer. This should not be the case. In the end it boils down to money. Companies show their greed by limiting features so people are forced to buy new when there is not a need because the technology is already there to do it right. I am a capitalist, but these guys give it a bad name.

There have been tablets before. I only difference I see is marketing.

The main difference is a touch-based user interface designed for touch from the ground-up, not mouse- or pen-based with touch tacked on. It's ease of use, finally creating a simple yet capable computing appliance rather than a PC shoved into a tablet.

Apple has made mistakes of not including things that are important like printing in their initial release.

Apple is known for releasing first-generation products to establish the market and a platform to build on. More features follow. That's why I don't buy first-generation Apple products.

The iphone cannot print, organize, or view documents like Microsoft Windows. These capabilities are apart of the operating system.

As noted above, a major reason for the success of the iPad has been not trying to cram an entire desktop OS into a tablet. The people who made Windows tablets failed because they were saying things like "you need it to be able to print, organize and view documents like Microsoft Windows. These capabilities are a part of the operating system."

I don’t know why anyone would want to print anything anyway(especially from a mobile device). Printing is so 20th century. ;^)

One of my biggest pet peeves are people that print emails. It just kills me every time I see it happen. (no, I’m not a tree-hugger type)

As noted above, a major reason for the success of the iPad has been not trying to cram an entire desktop OS into a tablet.

I'm pissed there's no floppy disk, wah! Technology is constantly evolving. Apple is brave enough to advance the technology boundaries by pushing new features, while temporarily leaving others behind in a 1st gen. product. I'm tired of other companies complaining while Apple does the heavy lifting.

Oh, another thing - I have a sports car and a truck. Neither does everything I'd like, but each does what I want very well. If someone wants a machine that does it all, you end up compromising the ability to do it well. The iPad does a lot of things very well.

It is good to be able to print, organize, and view. Why would someone purchase something that is half complete? One needs that to make the product useful. I am going to spend x dollars and there needs to be a basic general set there.

You probably prefer everything to be stripped down and then you add later. Most people I imagine are not like that. They want to be able to do things right out of the box like print, etc. They do not have the time or money to waste to get the ability to print, organize, or view.

For example, I can imagine a car following the Apple logic. It would only have a motor and wheels despite the ability to do more that was more technologically available like seats and lights. These are necessary in a car.

Apple also knows that their fanboys will lap up anything they dish out and settle for less than than what Apple can immediately deliver.

'm pissed there's no floppy disk, wah! Technology is constantly evolving. Apple is brave enough to advance the technology boundaries by pushing new features, while temporarily leaving others behind in a 1st gen. product. I'm tired of other companies complaining while Apple does the heavy lifting. Oh, another thing - I have a sports car and a truck. Neither does everything I'd like, but each does what I want very well. If someone wants a machine that does it all, you end up compromising the ability to do it well. The iPad does a lot of things very well.

They both have lights, seats, and a windshield. An Apple car would not have that. A general use car does more that what an Apple car would do.

Why would you not want to organize, iew, or print from an ipad or tablet when they first come out? The technology and knowledge is already there. Rush even commented on the lack of ability to print.

I have an iphone 3g and computer that runs Microsoft Windows. I cannot view or create documents on my iphone

You didn't have to buy Microsoft Office to view, create, and print Microsoft Word documents on your computer? I think you did... and it cost quite a bit of money. Word processors have generally never been free. You get what you pay for, archivist—so don't expect to do it for free on other devices. iOS 4.2 allows you to print for free now to WIFI capable printers... and there have been free and paid apps that allowed you to print over WIFI.

For example, I can imagine a car following the Apple logic. It would only have a motor and wheels despite the ability to do more that was more technologically available like seats and lights.

More like the first version would be a complete game changer, having all other manufacturers scrambling to catch up. However, Apple may not have things such as satnav and climate control in the early versions.

The ability to print is way low on the list of things necessary for a mobile device.

I should not have to wait to version 4.2 to print. In addition, I have 4.2 and cannot print. I can now because I had to find an app and a printer enabling me to.
I do have Microsoft Office, but I should be able to view Windows notepad documents. I was not limiting my options to Microsoft Office documents. Notepad came with Windows. I never specifically mentioned Microsoft Office originally.

It will be a game changer according to their marketing campaign and hype generated from Cupertino. Can you name specifics on how different it might be different than cars today?

There are tablets and smartphones in the past and now, what is so different now? It is marketing and hype for a product that does not or may not do as much as what has been available.

Many people will support Apple no matter what they produce or support.

Can you name specifics on how different it might be different than cars today?

How would I know? I'm not Apple. Few can guess what Apple's going to do. That's why the rest of industry is always following.

There are tablets and smartphones in the past and now, what is so different now?

I've already told you. Before the iPad, it was desktop OSs crammed into tablets with pen interfaces, the public didn't like it. Before the iPhone the pinnacle of phone touch technology was the LG Prada, which was what we'd call today a feature phone, and which had a pretty crappy Flash-based UI anyway. The iPhone defined what a smart phone was to be, as evidenced by the myriad copies.

They both have lights, seats, and a windshield. An Apple car would not have that. A general use car does more that what an Apple car would do.

Your analogy totally sucks, and was not well thought out. I think when you were made, a few parts were missing (half a brain perhaps). My analogy about differences between a sports car and truck is much closer to the differences between an iPad and a desktop PC.

The iPad is like a sleek sports car. What it does, it does very well. I use mine daily for 90 percent of my tasks. I also have a couple dozen other computers, among them Macs and PCs.

By the way, I have several sports cars. I have them because I enjoy driving them. I use my truck when I need to haul stuff, but it doesn't get used like my sports cars. Maybe you should respect the right of others to enjoy multiple products, or perhaps just stick to your own and have blinders on your eyes.

I should not have to wait to version 4.2 to print. In addition, I have 4.2 and cannot print. I can now because I had to find an app and a printer enabling me to.

Show us the all the other specifically mobile devices with direct to printer printing that preceeded the ipad/iphone in their early revisions, or even late ones, Archivist. In addition, show us any non-Microsoft OS that supports Notepad's proprietary file format... Since MS has kept that pretty close to the vest, instead of using a generic TXT, PDF, or RTF file format, which the iPad and iPhone could read, edit, and display from day one in NotePad and Mail...

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