According to a study by ABI Research published today Android tablets have already dented the iPad’s market share to the tune of 20% over the last twelve months. Although there is little doubt that Android is an OS on the march – recently capturing 53% of the global smartphone market – a figure of 20% seems a little on the high side, given that a separate study just over a month ago which looked at browser statistics found the iPad accounted for 89% of tablet usage globally, and a whopping 97% in the US.
ABI points out that – similarly to the smartphone market a year or so ago – no one manufacturer has yet been able to mount a war against Apple on their own, but the combined weight of the “more than fifty vendors” shipping Android tablets this year has apparently been enough to take some of the shine off Apple’s dominance in the tablet sector.
ABI’s Jeff Orr said of the results, “Many vendors have introduced media tablets, but none are separating themselves from the pack to pose a serious threat to Apple. In fact, most have introduced products at prices higher than similarly-configured iPads.”
ABI also point to the perennial thorn in Android’s side, fragmentation, as hindering faster growth. Most Android tablets are currently shipping with version 3.1, however several are hitting shelves with versions 3.0 or 3.2 on board. Some lower-cost models are shipping with even earlier versions of Android, such as 2.2 or 2.3.
The study predicts the tablet market will grow to over 120 million shipments in 2015. Estimates for how many tablets will be sold in 2011 vary between around 30 and 55 million. Apple sold 14 million iPads in the first half of the year.
While this is great news for Android, which has had something of a lukewarm reception on tablets, the outlook for individual manufacturers is still not stellar. Apple’s sales of iPads in 2011 are expected to be around 40 million, 20% of which is 8 million. Split between the aforementioned fifty vendors, this equates to a paltry 13,000 units sold on average per month per manufacturer.
Combine this with Apple’s continued flexing of their legal muscles and it’s fair to say it’ll be a little while yet before Android is out of the woods.
You can read the full press release here.
