Android tablet catching up with iPad in Q3

Shipment of tablet computers powered by Google's Android platform surged during the third quarter of 2012 at the expense of Apple, market research firm IDC on Monday said in its latest tablet market report. According to the report, Apple's iPad shipment growth slowed in both consumer and commercial (including education) markets in the third quarter. In terms of shipments, Apple grabbed 50.4 percent of the tablet market in the quarter, down from 65.5 percent in the previous three months and 59.7 percent in the same period last year. "We believe a sizable percentage of consumers interested in buying an Apple tablet sat out the third quarter in anticipation of an announcement about the new iPad mini," Tom Mainelli, tablets research director at IDC, said in a statement. He expected Apple to have a very good holiday quarter, but added that the iPad mini's high starting price of 329 U.S. dollars will leave plenty of room for Android tablets. At the expense of Apple, the other top tablet vendors, led by Samsung and Amazon, all gained share during the third quarter and turned up the pressure on Apple as the market leader. With a wide range of tablet products, Samsung pushed its worldwide market share to 18.4 percent, which is up 115 percent from the second quarter and 325 percent on a year-over-year basis. IDC noted that Samsung's growth in the quarter "represents the first time a competitor has attained this level of share since the original launch of the iPad." Although Amazon currently only ships Kindle in the United States, it nabbed 9 percent of worldwide tablet market share in the third quarter, compared to 4.8 percent in the second quarter and 2.5 percent one year earlier. Talking about the introduction of tablets running on Microsoft' s Windows 8 and Windows RT systems, the report said consumers now have a third viable tablet platform to choose, but Microsoft will have a tough time with its product's starting price of 499 dollars. The worldwide tablet shipments totaled 27.8 million units in the third quarter, increasing by 49.5 percent year over year and 6. 7 percent over the second quarter.