Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung continue to hold on to the top positions in the tablet market amid declining numbers in the recent quarter.
Statistics indicate that Apple managed to scoop the lead as the top tablet manufacturer with a 22% market share. Samsung came in second, managing to command 15% of the entire tablet market. Despite the lead, the shipments for Apple tablets dropped by 6.2% year-over-year in Q3 with 9.3 million devices shipped. Samsung had a rough Q3 following the unfortunate massive recall of Galaxy Note 7 devices on account of their faulty battery system which caused the explosion of a few of the Note 7 handsets.
The Galaxy Note 7 incident reportedly had an impact on Samsung’s Tablet business. Statistics also indicate that Samsung’s tablet shipments declined by 19.3% year-over-year and only managed to sell 6.3 million tablets in Q3 2016. One of the analysts compiling the data stated that Samsung’s declining numbers were company reliance on devices that do not have a physical keyboard and generally rely on the presence of a stylus and touch screens. These kinds of tablets are referred to as slates.
In the meantime, the companies are facing a lot of competition from devices that come with a detachable tablet where the monitor can be detached from the base. Also, the overall tablet market has been slowing down. Research firm IDC reported that 50.5 million tablets were shipped in 2015 compared to 43 million tablets shipped in 2016. The 2015 numbers also reported a 10% decrease from the numbers in 2014.
“The race to the bottom is something we have already experienced with slates and it may prove detrimental to the market in the long run as detachables could easily be seen as disposable devices rather than potential PC replacements, ” stated senior IDC analyst JiteshUbrani.
Apple stock closed the latest trading session at $113.54.