According to this report, the iPad's chief competitor was not the Fire but the iPhone 4S
Data: IHS iSuppli. Chart: PED
Amazon (AMZN) had a one-time shot to loosen Apple's (AAPL) hold on the worldwide tablet market, and it grabbed a 14% share last quarter according to a report issued Thursday by IHS's iSuppli.
Although the iPad managed to hold on to a 57% share, that was down from 64% in Q3 and less than IHS had projected.
Apple customers were tempted by "shiny new alternatives," says IHS senior manager Rhoda Alexander. According to her research, however, the primary alternative was not the Fire, but the iPhone 4S.
By the time Christmas sales were over, Apple had shipped more than 15.4 million iPads and Amazon nearly 3.9 million Kindle Fires, passing the Samsung's Galaxy Tab and Barnes & Noble's (BKS) Nook to take the No. 2 spot in global sales.
But Alexander adds a big caveat:
"The long-term viability of the [Fire] will hinge on the success of Amazon's business gamble, which depends on tablet sales driving substantial new online merchandise sales at Amazon.com in order to attain profitability."
Meanwhile Apple pulled in more than $9 billion in Pad revenue while the introduction of so-called "value-priced tablets" (i.e. the Fire and Nook) created what iSuppli called "chaos across the Android tablet marketplace," forcing competitors to clear inventory at fire-sale prices.
And with the anticipated launch of the iPad 3 in the next few weeks, iSuppli expects Apple to take back in Q1 2012 whatever market share it lost in Q4 2011.
Below: iSuppli's spreadsheet.
Click to enlarge.
What manufacturers are going to give Apple's iPad a run for the money?
Data: NPD, Jan-Oct. 2011. Chart: PED
For reasons known only unto itself, the NPD group saw fit Tuesday to issue a press release reporting on U.S. sales of tablets excluding the market's 400-pound gorilla: Apple's (AAPL) iPad.
"If you look at the tablet market without Apple there are a number of high-profile brands vying for that number two spot," said MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Nov 22, 2011 2:01 PM ET
Blow-by-blow coverage in English and Korean courtesy of the Wall Street Journal
Source: blogs.wsj.com
The headlines Friday morning were that Samsung had offered Apple (AAPL) a deal that would resolve the patent dispute that has prevented the Korean company from selling its Galaxy 10.1 tablet in Australia.
The excellent courtroom reporting that the Wall Street Journal's David Fickling and Ross Kelly have been providing for the past two days suggest that a MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Sep 30, 2011 7:35 AM ET
Apple granted an injunction barring distribution in all of the EU except The Netherlands
Verboten: Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1
A week after Samsung agreed out of court to postpone the launch of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, the leading manufacturer of tablets running Google's (GOOG) Android operating system has suffered a second major setback.
A court in Germany Tuesday granted Apple (AAPL) a preliminary injunction barring distribution of the device in MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Aug 9, 2011 1:02 PM ET
Its settlement with Apple does not bode well for devices that "slavishly" copy the iPad
Galaxy Tab 10.1. Look familiar?
If all had gone according to plan, Samsung would have launched its latest tablet computer -- the Galaxy Tab 10.1 -- in Australia on Thursday Aug. 11.
But Apple (AAPL) objected, telling a federal judge in Sydney that the device, based on Google's (GOOG) Android operating system, violated at least 10 Apple MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Aug 2, 2011 7:41 AM ET
In a legal tit for tat, Samsung's patent attorneys demand copies of the iPhone 5 and iPad 3
Photo: fudocom.com
What Apple watcher hasn't wished he could do what Samsung's lawyers did Friday night in a California federal court: File expedited discovery papers demanding "samples of Apple's next-generation iPhone and iPad."
It was the latest move in nasty patent fight that Apple (AAPL) started last month when it accused Samsung of "slavishly MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 29, 2011 10:39 AM ET
Also-rans from Samsung, Motorola and others don't seem to have made much of a dent
Source: The Nielsen Company
"Despite the addition to the market of new tablet computers like the Samsung Galaxy and the Motorola Xoom, in the United States, Apple's iPad is still dominating the conversation – and market."
So begins Nielsen's summary of the results of a survey of U.S. tablet owners fielded in April.
Apple's (AAPL) iPad had the MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 5, 2011 10:00 AM ET
The form factor isn't the only factor.
G-Slate with great browser on 8.9 inch screen
I've been playing with T-Mobile/LG's 8.9 inch Android 3.0 tablet for the better part of a week and I think it is an interesting piece of hardware. This is the first time I've played with Honeycomb, Google's (GOOG) tablet OS, extensively so it took a bit of getting used to.
There are plenty of things wrong with MORE
Seth Weintraub - Apr 19, 2011 6:27 PM ET
Thinner, lighter, higher resolution screen, higher resolution cameras, and starting at lower prices.
Samsung unveiled their answer to the iPad 2 today and it certainly looks impressive. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and its smaller, letter-boxier sibling, the 8.9, were unveiled at CTIA in Orlando this morning. Both devices will run Google's (GOOG) Android 3.0 Honeycomb software and have 1GHz dual-core Hummingbird ARM processors.
Samsung has said the 10.1-inch device will be available on MORE
Seth Weintraub - Mar 22, 2011 1:00 PM ET
Samsung's 10-inch tablet has some significant strengths against its competitors.
Android's next assault on the iPad franchise will likely come from Samsung who has had measured success selling its Galaxy S phones against the iPhone 4 over the last nine months. AndroidHD put together a 12-minute 'day in the life' video montage of what can be done with this tablet.
Some important features on this product which probably make it a better iPad MORE
Seth Weintraub - Mar 14, 2011 3:50 PM ETEvery morning, discover the companies, deals and trends in tech that are moving markets and making headlines. SUBSCRIBE
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