Android tablets will overtake iPad by 2015: IDC

According to a report from IDC, Android tablets will overtake Apple's iPad by 2015. As the sole vendor shipping iOS products, Apple will remain dominant in terms of worldwide vendor unit shipments, said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices. "However, the sheer number of vendors shipping low-priced, Android-based tablets means that Google's OS will overtake Apple's in terms of worldwide market share by 2015." The company expects iOS to remain the revenue market share leader through the end of its 2016 forecast period and beyond.
Besides, the company also reported that the worldwide media tablet shipments into sales channels rose by 56.1 per cent on a sequential basis in the fourth calendar quarter of 2011 (4Q11) to 28.2 million units worldwide.
Despite an impressive debut by Amazon, which shipped 4.7 million Kindle Fires into the market, Apple continued to see strong growth in the quarter, shipping 15.4 million units in 4Q11, up from 11.1 million units in 3Q11. Amazon's shipment total put the company in second place with 16.8 per cent of the worldwide market. Third-place Samsung grew its share from 5.5 per cent in 3Q11 to 5.8 per cent in 4Q11.

Android made some strong gains in 4Q11, thanks in large part to the Amazon Kindle Fire's success (as the Fire runs a custom version of Google's Android OS). Android grew its market share from 32.3 per cent in 3Q11 to 44.6 per cent in 4Q11. As a result, iOS slipped from 61.6 per cent market share to 54.7 per cent; Blackberry slipped from 1.1 per cent to 0.7 per cent. WebOS, which owned 5 per cent of the worldwide market in 3Q11, dropped to zero in 4Q11. Looking ahead, IDC expects Android to continue to grow its share of the market at the expense of iOS.
International Data Corporation (IDC) is a market research and analysis firm that provides market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets.