Almost 50 million tablets shipped worldwide during second quarter
Despite tough competition from both smartphones and phablets, tablets become more and more popular across the entire world. While both Samsung and Apple reported tablet sales below expectations, it looks like low-cost tablets are keeping sales figures high.
According to a report by IDC quoted by DigiTimes, the global tablet market grew 11 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period of 2013. Next to the tablets for buyers on a budget, analysts expect for the enterprise sector to increase demand as well.
Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC research director for tablets, thinks that "stronger commercial demand for tablets in the second half of 2014 will help the market grow and that we will see more enterprise-specific offerings, as illustrated by the Apple and IBM partnership, come to market."
During the second quarter, Apple shipped 13.3 million tablets and maintained its lead, followed by Samsung. While the first two companies reported declining sales, Lenovo now holds third place after surpassing Asus and gaining control of almost 5 percent of the market. Acer gets fifth position with only 2 percent, but the interesting part is that smaller manufacturers now control together the largest share of the market ever.