IDC: Apple's Tablet Market Share Slips 6%

Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) share of the worldwide market for tablet computers slipped to 22.8 percent in the third quarter, from 29.2 percent a year earlier, a market research company said Thursday.

Apple's slip came amid worldwide tablet market growth of 11.5 percent in the recent period by back-to-school promotions and a growing demand for connected devices, according to International Data Corp., a market research company that tracks tablet sales.

Although iPad shipments fell nearly 13 percent, to 12.3 million units, the erosion doesn't worry Apple because much of the competition is from low-cost vendors, IDC's Jitesh Ubrani said.

"A sub-$100 tablet simply isn't sustainable—Apple knows this—and it's likely the reason they aren't concerned with market share erosion," Ubrani said.

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Samsung  (OTC: SSNLF), meanwhile, maintained its No. 2 position on the market with shipment growth of 5.6 percent to 9.9 million units.

Samsung's market share slipped to 18.3 percent from 19.3 percent, but has begun to focus on markets like North America and Middle East and Africa where low-cost Asian vendors haven't been able to gain a foothold, according to IDC.

Asustek Computer Inc.'s Asus brand regained its No. 3 position with 3.5 million units and 6.5 percent market share of the market.

Lenovo Group Limited (OTC: LNVGY) swapped places with Asus in the third quarter, falling back to the No. 4 position with three million units. and a 5.7 percent share.

Technicolor SA's (OTC: TCLRY) RCA brand's shipments of 2.6 million units made it the No. 5 in the market-share sweepstakes.

Market share for the vendors outside the top five continued to outgrow the market, representing 41.8 of total tablet shipments in the third quarter, up from 37.4 percent a year earlier.