Paring the Apple Lead
Newsbites from Around the Android World
We hear via Bloomberg that Android tablets made significant gains on Apple’s iPad in the fourth quarter of 2010. Android’s market share in worldwide tablet shipments rose from two percent to 22 percent of the total while Apple’s share declined from 95 percent to 75 percent. In the fourth quarter of 2010, Apple shipped approximately 7 million iPads compared to Android sales of about 2 million.
The information comes from a recent survey by Boston-based researchers Strategy Analytics. The study indicates that Google’s inroads are likely to continue in 2011, with Apple’s market share projected to decline to 67 percent in the first quarter. A company analyst said, “If you were to ask me in two years time, will Apple have less than 50 percent of the global tablet market, I think that’s a certainty.”
Our reporter at CES told us that it was the Year of the Tablet. A couple of noteworthy new Android products debuted at the show.
Samsung announced a Wi-Fi-only version of the Galaxy Tab, as well as a smaller Galaxy player designed to compete with iPods. The company also demonstrated a new tablet, the Series 7, with a slide-out keyboard.
Sharp’s Galapagos tablet and related smartphones (illustrated), available only in Japan for now, bear watching. Designed as a soups-to-nuts e-reader, the Galapagos tablet is tied to a Galapagos e-book store, which sells books, newspapers, magazines, music, movies, TV shows and apps. The store also allows publishers to share previews. The U.S. release date is pending.
More from CES.
Filed under: GentryMedia •Apps4Tablets •
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