50 per cent increase in shipments compared to 2012.
Worldwide tablet shipments reached 217.1 million units in 2013, up from 144.2 million shipped the year before, 50.6 per cent year-on-year growth.
Q4 tablet sales grew to an impressive 76.9 million units representing 62.4 per cent growth compared to the previous quarter, and 28.2 per cent up form the year before, according to the IDC.
Apple’s iPad led the way, shipping 26 million units in the fourth quarter, up from 14.1 million in Q3 and 22.9 million in Q412. However the 13.5 per cent year-on-year growth was considerably lower than the industry average.
Tom Mainelli, research director, at IDC, said: “It’s becoming increasingly clear that markets such as the US are reaching high levels of consumer saturation and while emerging markets continue to show strong growth this has not been enough to sustain the dramatic worldwide growth rates of years past.”
Samsung stayed in second place with a 18.8 per cent global share in the tablet market, this is however down from 18.9 per cent from the previous quarter, but up a whopping 13 per cent from the same quarter a year before.
Mainelli continued: “We expect commercial purchases of tablets to continue to accelerate in mature markets, but softness in the consumer segment – brought about by high penetration rates and increased competition for the consumer dollar – point to a more challenging environment for tablets in 2014 and beyond.”
CCS Insight reported that UK tablet sales dropped three million from 2013, and that smaller tablets will dominate the future market.

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