Report: Tablet shipments to exceed 100M in 2012, led by iPad
updated 10:21 pm EDT, Thu August 23, 2012
Tablet shipments up 77 percent year-over-year
Tablet shipments are expected to exceed 100 million units in 2012, led by the dominance of Apple's iPad, according to analyst firm ABI Research. The April to June quarter is said to have set a new record, approaching 25 million units with 36 percent growth from the first quarter and a 77 percent jump from the same period last year.
Apple has continued to account for the majority of tablet sales, accounting for 69 percent of tablet sales in the second quarter, though several competitors experienced modest gains. Samsung's tablet sales are said to have grown by 8.1 percent, while ASUS shipments were up four percent.
"Most impressive about Apple’s 17.0 million tablet shipments in 2Q’2012 was it nearly matched 2010 total worldwide shipments of 17.3 million for all vendors," said ABI analyst Jeff Orr.
Despite the gain in overall shipments, Apple is reportedly facing diminishing average selling prices (ASPs), which are down four percent sequentially and 19 percent year-over-year. The ASP declines are partially blamed on the popularity of the iPad 2 in education, with nearly a million of the second-generation devices shipped to US educational institutions in the second quarter.
Although Microsoft's Surface tablets have yet to arrive, ABI analysts expect the devices to have an impact on Android's share of the tablet market. It remains unclear if Microsoft's tablets will prove popular enough to become major players against the iPad and Android alternatives, however.
