iPad Sales May Be Slipping, But Apple Still Rules the Tablet Market

Apple's earnings call this quarter revealed news that was very much in line with the trends we've been seeing from the Cupertino company in years past: For the most part, device sales were up, but sales of the iPad continued the downward slide we've been seeing for a while. Yet in the face of such dire news, research firm IDC (via MacRumors) shows that Apple still maintains a healthy lead over its competitors in the tablet market.

For specifics, Apple currently holds a 26.9 percent controlling share. Samsung continues to hold second place with a 17.2 share of the market based on 8.5 million shipments, but both of the tech giants have been feeling the pain as numerous other tablet manufacturers have been filling the market with inexpensive, easily obtainable models.

Consider Lenovo, for instance, which jumped from a 3.3 percent share to 4.9 percent or ASUS's impressive 13.5 percent growth from last year. "Other" tablet manufacturers who aren't big enough to make the list take up much of the rest of the slack for a full 37 percent share of the tablet market.

"As we indicated last quarter, the market is still being impacted by the rise of large-screen smartphones and longer than anticipated ownership cycles," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC research director for tablets, in the report. "We can also attribute the market deceleration to slow commercial adoption of tablets. Despite this trend, we believe that stronger commercial demand for tablets in the second half of 2014 will help the market grow and that we will see more enterprise-specific offerings, as illustrated by the Apple and IBM partnership, come to market."

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