Worldwide tablet shipment grew just 11% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2014 with shipments reaching 49.3 million units according to a report from the International Data Corporation (IDC).
The shipment was 1.5% down from the previous quarter and the research firm predicts that the market will experience positive but slower growth in 2014 compared to the previous year.
“As we indicated last quarter, the market is still being impacted by the rise of large-screen smartphones and longer than anticipated ownership cycles. We can also attribute the market deceleration to slow commercial adoption of tablets. Despite this trend, we believe that stronger commercial demand for tablets in the second half of 2014 will help the market grow and that we will see more enterprise-specific offerings, as illustrated by the Apple and IBM partnership, come to market.”
said Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC Research Director for Tablets in an official release.
IDC stated that Apple maintained its lead in the worldwide tablet market, shipping 13.3 million units in the second quarter. It was responsible for 26.9% of the market share despite declining iPad sales. Meanwhile, Samsung struggled to maintain its momentum as its market share stood at 17.2% in the second quarter. Lenovo and Asus took third and fourth spots with 4.9% and 4.6% of market share respectively.
“Until recently, Apple, and to a lesser extent Samsung, have been sitting at the top of the market, minimally impacted by the progress from competitors. Now we are seeing growth amongst the smaller vendors and a levelling of shares across more vendors as the market enters a new phase.”
said Jitesh Ubrani, Research Analyst, Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.