IDC: Apple Inc.'s Tablet Market Share Slips To 23%, From 29%

Apple Inc.'s

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 concern 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 concern which 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. Samsung meanwhile maintained its two 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 number three position with 3.5 million units and 6.5 percent market share of the market. Lenovo Group Ltd.

swapped places with Asus in the third quarter, falling back to the number four position with 3 million units. and a 5.7 percent share. Technicolor SA's

RCA brand's shipments of 2.6 million units made it the number-five in the market-share sweepstakes. Market share for the vendors outside the top 5 continued to outgrow the market, representing 41.8 of total tablet shipments in the third quarter, up from 37.4 percent a year earlier.