Apple Commands 87.4% Of Tablet Market

That's not all that bad

Jan 18 2011, 12:35pm CST | by Mark Raby

Research firm IDC has just released its statistics about the burgeoning "media tablet" market and, not surprisingly, the iPad is taking more than the lion's share of the industry.

According to IDC, Apple shipped 4.2 million tablets in the third quarter of 2010, enough to give it an 87.4% command of the market. The firm did not expand statistics for other companies, but noted that Samsung was the major competitor with its Android-based Galaxy Tab.

What is more worthy of taking a closer look, though, is IDC's breakdown of the e-reader market. The iPad is excluded from this list, as researchers only count devices that are dedicated to reading e-books. Here's how that list breaks down:

- Amazon (Kindle): 41.5%
- Pandigital: 16.1%
- Barnes & Noble (Nook): 15.4%
- Sony (Reader): 8.4%
- Hancon - 8.2%

What's interesting here is that the top five only represent less than 90% of the entire market, so other independent, low-budget e-readers are selling too.

It's a mixed bag for Amazon, though. It used to dominate this market with as much as 75% of the e-reader industry. But that was when fewer people were buying e-readers. Even though it only has about 41% of the market now, it's selling more Kindles than ever. Q3 2010 shipments reached 1.14 million.

And even though it doesn't own a majority of the e-reading business anymore, its top market share still outweighs the next three companies combined. So it's good news for Apple and Amazon, but both markets are still very nascent, so 2011 has the potential to bring about a lot of change. Keep your eyes peeled.

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Mark Raby
Based in New York City, Mark follows the consumer electronics industry like a hawk. A published book author, he has a particular affinity for 3D technology and video games, and as such will surely be in the market for a new pair of glasses soon. Mark can be contacted directly at mark@i4u.com.