While IDC’s most recent report on smartphone shipments indicates that the majority of growth in that industry is in developing nations, it seems tablet growth is strongest in the United States.
The market research firm reports that in Q3 the worldwide tablet market grew 11.5% compared to the same period last year. IDC’s data says there were 53.8 million tablets shipped this quarter, an 11.2% boost over unit shipments for Q2 2014. The company attributes this growth to the back-to-school season and the “appetite for connected tablets” in the U.S.
“Not only is the US market one of the largest for tablets, but third quarter results also indicate that this is where the growth is,” IDC’s Jean Philippe Bouchard, said in a statement. “We saw Verizon continuing to sell connected tablets at a fast pace, a strategy that we believe other carriers will replicate in following quarters.
For a lot of people, tablets are a tough sell. If you’ve got a laptop, a TV, and a smartphone, a tablet is most definitely a luxury item that you do not necessarily need. However, the back-to-school season and the holiday shopping season often offer the discounts folks need to take the leap.
Samsung seems to have caught on to the U.S.’s thirst for tablets and is apparently focusing on areas that have yet to be dominated by low-cost devices from Asian vendors, like North America and the Middle East and Africa.
The top five vendors for this quarter are led by Apple, which shipped 12.3 million units worldwide for a total of 29.2% of the market. Next in line is Samsung, with 19.3% (9.9 million units), and Asus crosses the finish line in third place with 7.4% of the market and 3.5 million units. Lenovo and RCA round out the top five. Lenovo, Apple, and Samsung all made the top five for smartphone shipments, too.
[source]IDC[/source]
