Apple iPad Manages to Gain Tablet Marketshare Back Despite Growing Competition

Apple essentially created the tablet product category as far as mass consumers are concerned, which is why it held 95% of the marketshare in 2010. That number has slowly eroded over the past couple years as dozens of competitors, including Google, HP, and RIM, continuously attemp to knock the iPad from the throne.

But, incredibly, the iPad may now be regaining marketsharen – despite more competition than ever. Even without the rumoured “iPad Mini,” market research firm Strategy Analytics claims Apple has increased its tablet marketshare from 62% to 68% in the second calendar quarter, driven by the now-discounted iPad 2 and the launch of the Retina-toting new iPad.

“Global tablet shipments reached 24.9 million units in Q2 2012, jumping 67% from 14.9 million in Q2 2011,” noted Strategy Analytics. “Demand for tablets among consumer, business and education users remains relatively healthy. Apple shipped a robust 17.0 million iPads worldwide and maintained its strong market leadership with 68% share during the second quarter of 2012. Apple continued to shrug off the much-hyped threat from Android and the iPad’s global tablet share is at its highest level since Q3 2010.”

“Android captured 29% share of global tablet shipments in Q2 2012, remaining static from 29% a year earlier,” the firm added. “Global Android tablet shipments grew by more than half to 7.3 million units. Despite high expectations for companies like Amazon, Samsung, Acer and Asus, the Android community has yet to make a serious dent in Apple’s dominance of the tablet market. Unspectacular hardware designs, limited uptake of cellular models and a modest number of tablet-optimized services have been among some of the main reasons for Android’s mixed performance so far.”