Telecom Lead India: Android has captured 41 percent share in mobile OS market in the third quarter of 2012 from 29 percent in last year’s quarter. Apple iOS slipped to 57 percent global market share from 65 percent.
(see charts)
“Android captured a record 41 percent share of global tablet shipments in Q3 2012, jumping from 29 percent a year earlier. Global Android tablet shipments doubled annually to 10.2 million units. No single Android vendor comes close to Apple in volume terms at the moment, but the collective weight of dozens of hardware partners, such as Asus, Samsung and Nook, is helping Google’s Android platform to register a growing presence in tablets,” said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics.
Global tablet shipments reached 24.7 million units in Q3 2012, up 43 percent from 17.2 million in Q3 2011.
Microsoft captured 2 percent global tablet share in Q3 2012. The imminent release of the new Windows 8 operating system will likely drive Microsoft tablet volumes higher during the Q4 2012 holiday season.
Demand for tablets slowed due to ongoing economic uncertainty and consumers holding off purchases in anticipation of multiple new models, like the iPad Mini, during the upcoming Q4 holiday season.
Apple shipped 14.0 million iPads worldwide and captured 57 percent share in the third quarter of 2012, dipping from 64 percent a year ago.
Exhibit 1: Global Tablet Operating System Shipments and Market Share in Q3 2012 1
| Global Tablet OS Shipments (Millions of Units) | Q3 ’11 | Q3 ’12 | |||||
| Apple iOS | 11.1 | 14.0 | |||||
| Android | 5.0 | 10.2 | |||||
| Microsoft | 0.4 | 0.4 | |||||
| Others | 0.7 | 0.1 | |||||
| Total | 17.2 | 24.7 | |||||
| Global Tablet OS Market Share percent | Q3 ’11 | Q3 ’12 | |||||
| Apple iOS | 64.5 percent | 56.7 percent | |||||
| Android | 29.2 percent | 41.3 percent | |||||
| Microsoft | 2.3 percent | 1.6 percent | |||||
| Others | 4.1 percent | 0.4 percent | |||||
| Total | 100.0 percent | 100.0 percent | |||||
| Total Growth Year-over-Year percent | 288.6 percent | 43.4 percent |
