Apple Inc remains the leader in a global tablet computer market that has been in an extended slump for the past two years, according to surveys released on Thursday last week.
Tablet sales in the fourth quarter of last year fell 20 percent from a year earlier to 52.9 million units, according to International Data Corp (IDC).
A separate survey by Strategy Analytics Inc said sales slumped 9 percent to 63.5 million.
IDC said overall sales fell 15.6 percent to 178.4 million units last year, in a second consecutive annual decline.
The research firm said many consumers are moving away from the “slate” tablets to more versatile devices with detachable keyboards, which might be categorized as either tablets or PCs.
“The sentiment around the tablet market continues to grow stale, despite a lot of talk about vendors pivoting their product portfolios toward the detachable segment,” IDC analyst Ryan Reith said. “Typical tablets without a dedicated keyboard, which IDC refers to as slate tablets, are continuing to lose relevancy across all regions and, as a result, we see the decline happening globally.”
According to IDC, Apple’s iPad held 24.7 percent of the market, while Strategy Analytics estimated its market share at 20.6 percent.
Samsung Electronics Co was the No. 2 vendor with more than 8 million tablets sold.
IDC estimated Amazon.com Inc sold 5.2 million of its Fire tablets with about 10 percent market share, but Strategy Analytics said Amazon sold 4.2 million units for a 6.7 percent share.
The other manufacturers in the top five were Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and Huawei Technologies Co (華為), according to the surveys.
Sales of Windows-powered tablets grew 19 percent from a year ago and accounted for 16 percent of the market, with Microsoft Corp the largest vendor in this segment for about 15 percent share, Strategy Analytics analyst Eric Smith said.
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