Apple pretty much created the market for consumer tablets with the original iPad, and it’s by far the most dominant player in the space. The latest numbers from research firm IDC confirm last week’s report that Apple had 68% of the market in the second quarter of 2012. While the previous week’s report treated the Android market as a whole, IDC has shipment numbers for the individual tablet makers using Google’s OS.
As one might expect, Samsung was the number-two player in the market. Its shipments more than doubled, and its market share rose from 7.3% to 9.6%. Asus’ shipments went up by more than a factor of two, too, and its market share increased from 2.6% to 3.4%. Amazon slotted in between those two for third place overall. The Kindle Fire wasn’t selling in the second quarter of last year, but 1.2 million of ’em shipped in Q2 2012, good for 5% of the pie.
Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and Asus all enjoyed increased shipments and market share, so who suffered? Acer, which dropped from third to fifth place. The company shipped 39% fewer tablets year-over-year, ending up with only 1.5% of the market. The number of “other” tablets dropped, as well. Smaller players shipped slightly fewer tablets overall, and their market share was cut in half, to just 12.3%.
Google’s new Nexus 7 didn’t factor into the Q2 results, but it looks like manufacturer Asus is planning to build at least 3 million of the things. DigiTimes’ sources in the supply chain say many Tegra 3 processors have been ordered for Nexus production.
Interestingly, IDC suggests Apple’s share of the market may actually increase as Win8 and other new devices crowd the market this fall. Confused consumers unsure of which “other” tablet to buy could simply default to the market leader. That doesn’t sound too far-fetched, although I suspect some folks will simply default to Windows 8 devices when they’re finally available.