Tablet sales rise 17% quarter-on-quarter

Tablet sales reached 51.9 million units worldwide in Q2 2013, says Futuresource, representing 65% growth over Q2 2012, and a 17% quarter-on-quarter increase.

Futuresource reckons total tablet sales will exceed 252 million units in 2013, an annual growth rate of 63%.

Growth is beginning to be driven more by emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa where penetration is much lower than more developed markets such as the USA, which is approaching 33% population penetration (as of end Q2 2013). Growth in emerging regions exceeded 110% in Q2, versus 64% in North America, and 73% in Western Europe.

Rapidly falling prices are helping to accelerate global tablet uptake, particularly with the continued popularity of sub $199 (at retail) tablets. The average tablet trade price of $272 in Q2 2013 was 25% lower than in Q2 2012.

Despite facing increasing competition from brands such as Samsung, Amazon, Asus and other PC brands, Apple still retains a dominant lead in the tablet market.

Smaller-screened devices continued to gain market share in Q2 2013, making up more than 50% of total shipments in the quarter compared to fewer than 25% in the same period in 2012.