No more monopoly?
A recent IDC report notes that Apple's share of the tablet market fell substantially in Q4 from 93 percent to 73 percent, noting that Samsung was the key competitor. IDC says the market is on pace for 50 million units this year, and expects Apple to retain a 70-80 percent market share throughout the year.
The tracker showed that more than 10.1 million tablets were shipped in Q4 last year, which was more than double the 4.5 million shipped during the previous quarter.
During the fourth quarter, the eReader market more than doubled in volume from the previous quarter, selling more than 6 million units for the quarter. The report also noted that yearly eReader shipments of 12.8 million units were up more than 325% from 2009 when roughly 3 million units were shipped.
While Amazon continued to lead the eReader market, competitors such as Pandigital, Barnes & Noble, Hanvon, and Sony among others, also made significant contribution.
Interestingly, a recent Forrester blog suggests that the iPad rivals launched in the market might have flawed product strategies that prevent them from being a viable competitor to Apple. Instead the report suggested that Amazon is the only ideal competitor.
Showing off upcoming apps for a Kindle tablet, Amazon has already made steps toward a tablet play. Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps also mentioned that Amazon could create a compelling Android or Linux-based tablet that would incorporate the Amazon storefront and other compelling Amazon features.
Citing research, she also noted more consumers said they would consider purchasing an Amazon tablet (24 percent) over a Motorola tablet (18 percent) because of Amazon's content assets such as ebooks, MP3s, videos and games.
