Worldwide tablet market grew 11.5% year over year in the third quarter of 2014 (3Q14) with shipments reaching 53.8 million units according to a latest report from the IDC.
The report says that due to back-to-school promotions and strong sales in the US, the third quarter also saw shipments grow sequentially by 11.2% compared to 2014. Giving insights about vendor shipment, the report said that Apple maintained lead with 12.3 million units in the third quarter. Samsung held its number two position on the market with 9.9 million units shipped, capturing an 18.3% market share in the third quarter reporting to experience 5.6% growth.
“Although the low-cost vendors are moving a lot of volume, the top vendors, like Apple, continue to rake in the dollars. A sub-$100 tablet simply isn’t sustainable—Apple knows this—and it’s likely the reason they aren’t concerned with market share erosion.”
said Jitesh Ubrani, Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.
Asus came in number three spot with 3.5 million units capturing a market share of 6.5% while Lenovo reported fourth spot with 3 million and 5.7% of market share. Finally, RCA came in at number 5 by shipping 2.6 million units primarily in one country, the US. Market share for the vendors outside the top 5 continued to outgrow the market, representing 41.8% of total tablet shipments in 3Q14.