Nearly 18 Million Media Tablets Shipped in 2010 with Apple Capturing 83% Share; eReader Shipments Quadrupled to More Than 12 Million, According to IDC
10 Mar 2011
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.,
March 10, 2011 - According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide
Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker, 10.1 million media tablets were
shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10) - more than double the 4.5 million
shipped in the third quarter. Apple's share came down from 93% in 3Q10 to 73%
in 4Q10, but still reflected Apple's strong leadership position. Samsung's
Galaxy Tab was the primary competitor in the holiday season, beating other
players to market and capturing more than 17% share, while a number of smaller
regional players also participated.
The Tracker showed that the eReader market also picked up
significantly in the fourth quarter. Strong sales of Amazon's Kindle, which was
refreshed in August and priced more aggressively, as well as significant gains
from competitors such as Pandigital, Barnes & Noble, Hanvon, and Sony among
others, contributed to market growth.
In 4Q10, the eReader market more than doubled volume from
the previous quarter, with more than 6 million units shipped for the quarter, bringing
the full-year total to 12.8 million units shipped. eReader shipments were also
up more than 325% from 2009 when roughly 3 million units shipped. The strong
growth reflects a more competitive offering as well as widening interest in the
category, including a boost from media tablet press and much lower pricing.
"Strong holiday sales of media tablets were in line
with IDC projections and strong consumer interest in the category while device
vendors scrambled to offer products competitive with Apple's iPad and now iPad
2," said Loren
Loverde, vice president, Consumer Device Trackers. "Media Tablets are on
pace to reach shipments of roughly 50 million units in 2011."
According to IDC, media tablets are tablet form factor
devices with color displays larger than 5 in. and smaller than 14 in. running
lightweight operating systems (such as Apple's iOS and Google's Android OS) and
can be based on either x86 or ARM processors. By contrast, tablet PCs run full
PC operating systems and are based on x86 processors. Media tablets support
multiple connectivity technologies and a broad range of applications, which
differentiates them from single purpose–focused devices such as eReaders. Media
tablet market evolution will be driven not only by product introductions from
PC, consumer electronics, and mobile phone vendors, but also by expanded
distribution channels (with mobile operators playing a key role) and commercial
adoption by businesses.
According to IDC, the United States, Western Europe and
Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) regions accounted for 89% of all media tablet
shipments in 4Q10. Although the United States remained the largest country
market, Western Europe and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) grew almost twice as
fast from 3Q10 to 4Q10 and Western Europe saw a slightly larger jump in
shipments in 4Q10.
In 4Q10, retailers were the channel with the highest share
of shipments, followed by direct and telco sales. A new channel for media tablets,
the telco operators, accounted for nearly 14% of all shipments of media tablets
in 4Q10 following just over 1% share in the third quarter.
Vendor Highlights: Media
Tablets
- Apple is
building on its strong 2010 first-generation iPad launch with the iPad 2,
which will ship this month, before most competitors come to market with
first generation media tablets. Although more competing devices will be
launched this year, IDC expects Apple to maintain a 70-80% share of the
market.
- Samsung
started shipping its 7 in. Galaxy Tab media tablet in 4Q10. Although its shipments
into the channel were fairly aggressive, a lack of competitive pricing and
ongoing competition from Apple stifled consumer demand. Samsung is
expected to follow with a 10.1 in. Galaxy Tab with Android 3.0 Honeycomb
later this year, but the refresh will have a tough time maintaining share
as more competitors enter the market.
- The
recently launched Motorola Xoom is a worthy competitor in function,
although the relatively high price is expected to be a barrier to gaining
significant share.
- Other
vendors and designs are expected to hit the market in earnest in the
second half of 2011. Many of these products will be more competitive in
function, like the Xoom, but we expect only those from large vendors with
significant marketing and channel structure in addition to a few technologically
and price competitive devices to capture significant share. One
differentiation path that some vendors are likely to take is to focus on
specific market segments, such as commercial. While benefitting from
unique product positioning, they are likely to address a smaller overall
market and will need to be competitive with devices from Apple and others.
Vendor Highlights: eReaders
- Amazon
continued to lead the eReader market holding just over 48% share in 4Q10
and 2010 overall. Amazon's share recovered in 4Q10 with shipments of the
refreshed Kindle (3) after dipping under 40% in 3Q10.
- Barnes
and Noble began shipping the NOOKcolor color LCD-based ereader in 4Q10 to
support children's books, periodicals, and other graphically rich content.
The NOOKcolor is more expensive than epaper-based ereaders and offers a
lower priced, less feature-rich alternative to a full-fledged media
tablet.
- Pandigital
edged out Barnes and Noble for the number 2 spot in 4Q10, although the
latter came in slightly ahead on an annual basis.
- Hanvon of
China came in as the number 4 eReader vendor with a sequential gain in
volume. Half of Hanvon shipments were in China, where it leads the market,
but where eReader growth remained modest. International shipments faced
greater competition, pushing share down overall.
- Worldwide
Sony Reader shipments grew 80.7% during 4Q10 and exceeded 800,000 units
for 2010.
The Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker
includes quarterly shipment and forecast analysis for over 30 countries
including market size and vendor share along with detailed market segmentation
and product attributes such as operating system, connectivity, and storage
capacity among others.
For more information, or to subscribe to the research,
please contact Kathy Nagamine at 650-350-6423 or knagamine@idc.com.
Contact
For more information, contact:
Susan Kevorkian
skevorkian@idc.com
650-350-6234
Loren Loverde
lloverde@idc.com
305-351-3115
Michael Shirer
press@idc.com
508-935-4200
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