Android Has Now Surpassed Apple In Tablet Revenue
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Android Surpasses Apple In Tablet Revenue During Third Quarter (Fortune)
A study by Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty claims that, for the first time in the existence of the tablet marekt, Android tablet sales generated more revenue than Apple did from its iPads during the third quarter.
Android's revenue share from tablet sales reached 46.2%, climbing just ahead of Apple's 45.6% share.
Huberty calculated the revenue share out of IDC tablet shipments numbers broken down by tablet vendors.
The most obvious cause is the continued fall off in iPad shipments throughout 2013, thanks in part to Apple pushing all new iPad device launches to the 4th quarter. In terms of shipments, Apple's quarterly market share fell to 29.7% from 40.2% in the same quarter a year ago. Android, meanwhile, captured 66.7% of all tablet shipments during the third quarter, up from 58.5% in the same quarter a year ago.
Clearly, consumers were drawn to the cheaper Android alternatives instead of holding out until the fourth quarter for the new, higher-priced iPad. Apple has never been in the game of selling the "most" of any device. But we've now hit a tipping point where Android's massive shipments scale in eating into Apple's tablet revenue potential.
It should be noted that Morgan Stanley did not offer a look at tablet profit share. Read >
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