IDC reported Monday in its latest Worldwide Quarterly Smart Connected Device Tracker that Samsung continues to lead Apple on global connected device shipments.
And the lead is widening. For Q3 2012, Samsung captured a 21.8% market share. Apple trailed well behind with just a 15.1% market share.
“The battle between Samsung and Apple at the top of the smart connected device space is stronger than ever,” the IDC report reads. “Both vendors compete at the top of the tablet and smartphone markets. However, the difference in their collective ASPs is a telling sign of different market approaches. The fact that Apple’s ASP is $310 higher than Samsung’s with just over 20 million fewer shipments in the quarter speaks volumes about the premium product line that Apple sells.”
For the year, Samsung’s shipments grew a whopping 97.5 percent from the third quarter of 2011.
IDC believes that most consumers have entered into the “multi-device era,” meaning that a growing number of consumers will own multiple connected devices ranging from tablets to smartphones – devices that will occasionally be powered by competing mobile operating systems.
“Both consumers and business workers are finding the need for multiple ‘smart’ devices and we expect that trend to grow for several years, especially in more developed regions,” said IDC’s Program Vice President of Clients and Displays, Bob O’Donnell. “The advent of cloud-based services is enabling people to seamlessly move from device to device, which encourages the purchase and usage of different devices for different situations.”