IDC report shows back to school promos and US appetite boost worldwide tablet market

The worldwide tablet market has grown 11.5% year over year in the third quarter, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.

The data showed shipments reached 53.8 million units, marked by back-to-school promotions and a US appetite for connect tablets.

It is becoming increasingly common for schools to include tablets on school stationery lists as educators see the devices as integral to learning. A report released in 2013 by the New Zealand parliament's education and science committee recommended that it consider introducing a policy that every student in New Zealand have access to a digital device for learning.

This trend is seen across the world, and is a trend that has contributed majorly to the increase in tablet sales. A growing hunger for the tablet in the US is the other major factor.

"Not only is the US market one of the largest for tablets, but third quarter results also indicate that this is where the growth is," says Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC research director for tablets. "We saw Verizon continuing to sell connected tablets at a fast pace, a strategy that we believe other carriers will replicate in following quarters.”

Bouchard says RCA entered the top 5 tablet market, having an impact on the entire US market and worldwide ranking with one large deal linked to back-to-school and channel fill ahead of Black Friday. Those two elements resulted in the US tablet market growing at 18.5% year-over-year compared to the worldwide market growing at 11.5% annually.

Despite a continued shipment decline for its iPad product line, Apple maintained its lead in the worldwide tablet market, shipping 12.3 million units in the third quarter. Samsung held its number two position on the market with 9.9 million units shipped, capturing an 18.3% market share in the third quarter.

Asus regained its number three position with 3.5 million units and 6.5% share of the market. Lenovo fell back to the number 4 position with 3 million units. The top 5 was rounded out by RCA, which achieved its position by shipping 2.6 million units primarily in one country, the US.

Market share for the vendors outside the top 5 continued to outgrow the market, representing 41.8% of total tablet shipments in 3Q14.

"Although the low-cost vendors are moving a lot of volume, the top vendors, like Apple, continue to rake in the dollars," says Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst for the Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. "A sub-$100 tablet simply isn't sustainable—Apple knows this—and it's likely the reason they aren't concerned with market share erosion."

Tablet Vendor Highlights

Apple, during its earnings call, noted that the iPad's lifecycle is extending. Combined with consumer anticipation and the release of the latest iPhones, IDC saw a decline in overall iPad shipment volume in 3Q14. Although Apple has recently updated and expanded its iPad lineup to its widest offering ever, IDC still expects 2014 to be the year of the iPhone.

Samsung has slowly begun to focus on markets like North America, and Middle East and Africa (MEA), where low-cost Asian vendors haven't been able to gain a foothold just yet. Although Samsung's share declined slightly compared to last year, it was able to experience 5.6% growth and was able to maintain its number 2 rank among the top 5.

ASUS was able to leapfrog Lenovo to land itself in the number 3 spot. Much of this gain was fueled by Windows-based 2-in-1 devices as ASUS continues to offer some prominent models at highly competitive prices.

Lenovo's strength in emerging markets has been paying off as they experienced greater than 30% growth and have been able to increase their share by almost a percentage point. Lenovo has also had the benefit of leveraging its brand and strength in the PC business to secure a strong position in the tablet market.

RCA was a surprise entry into the top 5 list due to its distribution deal with some of the largest retailers in the world. With low-cost devices driving volume, RCA's tablets have been a hit during the back-to-school season and will likely be in high demand during Black Friday and the upcoming holiday season.