iPad's market share shrinks, analysts say

Apple Inc.'s iPad, whose share of the tablet market once stood at a mighty 96 percent, has fallen to 67 percent amid growing challenges from other tablets such as those running Google's Android, a research and consulting firm said. Strategy Analytics said the iPad's share of the global tablet market fell to 67 percent while Android tablets' share grew to 27 percent, PC World reported. It noted that while iPad shipments increased 164 percent during the first three months of 2011 and shipments climbed 96.4 percent in the second quarter, there was only a 20-percent increase from the second to the third quarter. Tom Mainelli, an analyst for IDC, said the figures show the iPad "is experiencing slowing growth." Mainelli said this is because many of the wealthy consumers most likely to spend $500 or more on an iPad in markets such as the United States have already done so, and these buyers have shifted to a replacement buying cycle. He added that while Apple will likely see shipment growth continue, with the fourth quarter being its biggest to date, the pace of that growth will likely slow. To spur the high growth rate, he said Apple will need to win over mainstream buyers in a market where new value-priced products like Amazon’s $199 Kindle Fire are gaining traction. He suggested copying its own iPhone strategy, offering the previous-generation device at a lower price point. "Lower-priced iPads would increase Apple’s total available market, and would give competitors already reeling from Amazon’s $199 product announcement yet another reason to lose sleep at night," he said. "Amazon's strategy of minimizing its hardware price is set to ignite the entry-level tablet segment and attract more mass-market consumers," added Strategy Analytics Director Neil Mawston. — ELR, GMA News