(
)
Apple proved again this past weekend that it still rules the tablet world — but its grip is definitely loosening.
The company started selling the iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad last Friday, and yesterday it reported 3 million tablet sales through Sunday, a record for a three-day period.
However, the latest tablet market data shows that despite such a strong weekend, the iPad’s market share is actually slipping.
Apple’s share of the tablet market fell to 50.4 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30, from 68.2 percent in the prior quarter, according to a report yesterday by market research firm IDC.
Apple’s declining market share for tablets mirrors its experience in the smartphone sector.
There, Apple led the way with its iPhone only to lose market share to a number of manufacturers embracing Google’s Android software, which marked its fifth anniversary yesterday.
“It’s the same story. If you want to know how tablets are going, just look at the phones,” said analyst Colin Gillis with BGC Partners. “You may see the iPad go to 25 percent of the market before it is said and done.”
Until recently it wasn’t clear that Apple had a serious tablet rival or that Android represented a true threat.
Unlike with smartphones, tablets aren’t subsidized by carriers, and consumers pay full price.
The first Android tablets were priced the same, if not higher than the iPad, and they went nowhere.
But then rivals dropped their prices.
Last September, Amazon introduced the Android-based Kindle Fire at $200, and earlier this year Google introduced the $200 Nexus 7.
While sales of those two devices grabbed consumers last quarter, a familiar foe was responsible for the biggest hit to Apple’s once unshakable iPad stranglehold: Samsung, which took 18.4 percent of the market.
Samsung is the largest manufacturer of Android phones and yesterday announced that it sold 30 million of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III.
Those types of sale numbers are partly responsible for the dominance of the Android platform in smartphones.
Last quarter, 75 percent of smartphones shipped ran the Android mobile operating system, according to IDC.
Apple’s iOS represented 14.9 percent of the market.
Apple’s smaller footprint in smartphones and tablets is just a consequence of its high-end brand, Gillis said.
“If you’re going to be a high-end player, you may not achieve massive scale,” he said.
It’s clearly a deliberate strategy for Apple. Last month, when the company launched the iPad mini, which is close to the size of cheaper rivals, Apple watchers expected a similar $200 price as well.
Apple went with $329 for the lowest-priced model and sent a signal that it would not be a budget brand.
Apple shares have fallen nearly 18 percent from their $702.10 high on Sept. 19 — but are still up 44 percent this year.
They closed yesterday at $584.62, up 1.4 percent