Boston, MA -- According to the latest
research from Strategy Analytics, global tablet shipments reached 27
million units in the fourth quarter of 2011. Android jumped to a record
39 percent global share, while Apple iOS maintained its strong
leadership at 58 percent.
Peter King, Director at Strategy
Analytics, said, “Global tablet shipments reached an all-time high of
26.8 million units in Q4 2011, surging 150 percent from 10.7 million in
Q4 2010. Demand for tablets among consumer, business and education users
remains strong. Apple shipped a robust 15.4 million iPads worldwide and
maintained its strong market leadership with 58 percent share during
the fourth quarter of 2011. Apple shrugged off the much-hyped threat
from entry-level Android models this quarter.”
Neil Mawston,
Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Android captured a
record 39 percent share of global tablet shipments in Q4 2011, rising
from 29 percent a year earlier. Global Android tablet shipments tripled
annually to 10.5 million units. Dozens of Android models distributed
across multiple countries by numerous brands such as Amazon, Samsung,
Asus and others have been driving volumes. Android is so far proving
relatively popular with tablet manufacturers despite nagging concerns
about fragmentation of Android’s operating system, user-interface and
app store ecosystem.”
Other findings from the research include:
*
Global tablet shipments hit 66.9 million units in full-year 2011,
surging 260 percent from 18.6 million in full-year 2010. Consumers are
increasingly buying tablets in preference to netbooks and even
entry-level notebooks or desktops;
* Microsoft captured a niche 1
percent global tablet share in Q4 2011. The upcoming release of Windows 8
this year cannot come quickly enough for Microsoft, so its hardware
partners can start competing more effectively in the tablet space. [Source: Strategy Analytics]