Apple fans fondle more slabs

Apple's iPad grabbed almost 70 per cent of the tablet market during Q2, up from just under 60 per cent in Q1.

Cupertino's unit shipments jumped massively between the two quarters, market watcher IHS iSuppli said yesterday, but rival vendors sold more tablets quarter-on-quarter too. Well, Samsung and Asus did, but both Amazon and Barnes & Noble - retailers selling into the US only, but still making the global top five - saw shipments fall.

The numbers broadly confirm earlier Q2 figures from IDC.

Second-placed Samsung took 9.2 per cent of the market, down from 10.8 per cent the previous quarter despite shifting 2.8 per cent more tablets.

Asus' share rose from 2.7 per cent to 2.8 per cent, putting it in fourth place. Its unit shipment growth was 26.2 per cent, second only to Apple's 44.1 per cent.

Amazon came third, despite a 13.3 per cent drop in unit shipments its market share falling from 5.8 per cent to 4.2 per cent. In fifth place, Barnes & Noble's share fell from three per cent to 1.9 per cent on the back of a 25.2 per cent drop in unit shipments.

Everyone else combined went from a 19.5 per cent market share to 12.3 per cent.

Overall, the market grew 20.3 per cent. ®