Consistent with analyst expectations, worldwide tablet shipment growth slowed in the second quarter of 2013.
Confirmation of the the slowed growth comes to us from preliminary data published today by the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.
Worldwide tablet shipments finally experienced a sequential decline as total volumes fell -9.7% from Q1 of 2013. However, the 45.1 million units shipped in the second quarter was up 59.6% from the same quarter in 2012, when tablet vendors shipped 28.3 million devices.
One of the biggest laggards for the quarter was Apple.
Lacking a new product launch in March to help spur shipments, Apple’s iPad saw a lower-than-predicted shipment total of 14.6 million units for the quarter, down from 19.5 million in Q1 of 2013.
In years past, IDC reminds us, Apple has launched a new tablet heading into the second quarter, which resulted in strong quarter-over-quarter growth. Now, Apple is expected to launch new tablet products in the second half of the year, a move that better positions it to compete during the holiday season, IDC reports.
“A new iPad launch always piques consumer interest in the tablet category and traditionally that has helped both Apple and its competitors,” said Tom Mainelli, Research Director of Tablets at IDC. “With no new iPads, the market slowed for many vendors, and that’s likely to continue into the third quarter. However, by the fourth quarter we expect new products from Apple, Amazon, and others to drive impressive growth in the market.”
