Android Tablet Outsells The iPad
Consumers probably were expecting it, but the Android tablet finally outsells the iPad. According to a report by MSN News, over 120 million Android products were sold last year. However, iPad product’s numbers were more than half of Android products at 70 million.
The research was originally performed by Gartner, and according to their calculations, purchasing of Android products rose by 68% while capturing 62% of the market. Those numbers are even higher than the iOS back in 2012, which they captured only 53% of the market. It is also worth noting that the iOS dropped drastically in their market total for 2013. They were at a solid 36%, a 17-point drop from 2012.
The report isn’t just limited to Android and iOS products. Microsoft enjoyed growth too, but it only accounts for 2% of the overall market, selling just over four million Windows 8 tablets last year. Samsung is the biggest winner out of all of them for 2013. True they don’t have the numbers both Google and Apple have, but their sales numbers have increased exponentially. In 2012, they sold 8 million. In 2013, they jumped up to 37 million. That’s a 363% increase!
The reason why Android products were expected to surpass iOS products is their support of the low-end smaller screen tablet market and customers looking for a cheaper product that works just as well as the “most-popular” name brand. What is surprising is how long it took. One reason may be the driving mind behind Apple, Steve Jobs. Whenever an iOS product was mention, people associate it with the innovative genius. He is also the man behind the iMac, iPod, and of course the iPhone. When he passed away back in 2011, it seemed as if Apple wasn’t the same. The iPad was released back in 2011 too, but it didn’t have the same impact the other iOS products had. Maybe it had a lot to do with how long it took to develop it. Unknown to most people, the iPad started development before the iPhone.
Apple needs to do something to stay current with the mobile market. With Android now in the lead within the market and Microsoft nipping at their heels with the announcement of Cortana, as previously reported by The Inquisitr, Apple needs to regroup and rethink their strategy. By what all the articles report however, the iOS is still the most popular name brand in the market, but it is probable that Google cares…as long as they remain the number one product in sales.
[Image courtesy of Shutterstock By Kirill__M]
